SANGUEM: Given the failure of the government to consider the request for compensation towards the losses suffered due to shortage of water for sugarcane, the affected farmers from Kurdi Wadem have threatened an agitation to press for their demands.
Speaking on the “lethargic” attitude of the government, Manoj Paryekar said that majority of the sugarcane cultivators in Kurdi Wadem suffered huge losses after their crop dried up on account of the Department’s failure to regulate water supply to the cultivators. Paryekar is the vice chairman of Kurdi Vividh Kari Sahakari Seva Society.
Paryekar said that the Society has advanced loans to the farmers for sugarcane cultivation, the repayment of which depends solely on the yield. “However, with the dried up plantation, the cane cultivators will not even be in a position to recover the cost and this will severely affect the repayment capacity of the loan amount by the farmers,” Paryekar said.
During summer, many sugarcane fields in Kurdi dried up on account of lack of water supply by the Water Supply Department as water in the Bhandaras at Wadem Colony No 1 and at Naikaband water project had dried up long before the arrival of monsoon.
Immediately after the losses, the Kurdi VKS Society had written to the chief minister seeking compensation for the losses suffered by the farmers and the government had reportedly assured to work out modalities to compensate the farmers.
However, as of now nothing has come out from the government and this has made the farmers doubt as to whether the government would provide them any compensation in the days to come.
Informing that the Agriculture office at Sanguem and the Deputy Collector Ajay Gaude have forwarded their reports to the government over the losses suffered by the farming community on account of lack of water supply, Paryekar argued that “This is sufficient enough to consider the demand for compensation made by the farmers.”
