Team Herald
PONDA: Hopes of bumper harvest were dashed as farmers from Tivrem-Orgao panchayat jurisdiction suffered crop losses after a riverside bhandara breached, which left their crops submerged under saline water.
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After working hard a few months ago to grow various vegetable crops, the farmers were in for a rude shock as they noticed a major breach in the bhandara near the manas at Zuvariwada, Tivrem-Orgao where over 50 acres of paddy fields were submerged under saline water since Sunday, affecting their crop.
The farmers, who learnt about the breach in the bandhara, gathered at the site and began the repair work via traditional method of using mud filled bags. However, they demanded that the Agriculture Department provide a permanent solution to protect their fields from recurring breaches.
According to the farmers, the centuries old bhandaras are breaching during high tide. The entry of saline water has left the vegetables submerged.
They claimed that weakened bhandara has breached on account of the holes created by crabs.
Farmers said that if such a situation persists, then their paddy fields will become uncultivable, forcing them to abandon agriculture and to keep the land fallow.
Narayan Vittal Gaude and other farmers said they had grown various vegetable crops such as chilli and lady finger, but they noticed that their crops, which were ready for harvesting, submerged due to the breach in the bandhara.
Narayan said, “We suffered crop loss when we were hoping to reap the benefits by selling excess crops in the market. The government should compensate us for crop loss.”
