For over a quarter of a century, the once pristine fields considered to be the rice bowl of the village have been abandoned by farmers – thanks to the Tillari Irrigation Project which has been more of a curse than a boon in the village. Hundreds of hectares of fields now lie inundated after the leaking canal drowned the village into misery. The fields were god’s gift to the villagers which the farmers cultivated and ate from their land for centuries together.
The ryots here toiled labouriously and produced bumper harvests of organic rice. The natural water from the springs was more than enough for cultivation. No chemical fertilizers were used, the rains washed down silt from the hilly slopes while the droppings of migratory birds was enough to nourish the rice crop. Then came in ‘Development’ in the name of Tillari and rather than helping the farmers, project reduced the farmers to tears. Every MLA promises to help the farmers to bring the land under the plough. The poll promises too however are also drowned after elections. The monsoon is about to end and winter will set in soon. Will the authorities wake up from slumber and reach out to the distressed farmer? The panchayat too should sue the Tillari Irrigation Dept for messing up with the fields and directed to compensate the farmers for the loss. Time the panchayats of Sodiem and Marna wake up and help farmers cultivate their fields again.
