The Goa government is introducing many schemes for agricultural development in the State, but the same remains only on paper, claim farmers from Dhamse, Sattari.
They have stated that for the last five months, sugarcane cultivators were in need of water for their crops to survive, but the government was least bothered about the situation. They added that sugarcane on around 20 acres were about to die due to lack of water.
For the last 20 years, sugarcane was being cultivated with the help of water from the Mhadei River. The government had constructed a lift irrigation system in this area to boost agricultural activities, and hence, many people from Dhamse village showed interest in sugarcane cultivation, which has been a main source of their earnings for the last few years.
Dhamse farmers said that the last sugarcane season ended in December and the new season would start soon, but the government had completely shirked away from providing water to them for the last five months. They claimed that water was being supplied to them only few times, due to which they were unable to cultivate their land. To make their crops grow, they had to be watered after every four days.
Pundalik Gaonkar, a farmer, stated that they had visited the Water Resources Department office at Valpoi over the issue, but they received a very poor response from the officials. He said the officials gave different reasons for the irregular water supply, such as breakdown of the pumps, no proper voltage, and pumps not getting sufficient water from the river.
The sugarcane cultivators have questioned why, if those reasons were genuine, the authorities were keeping quiet and not taking any action to solve the farmers’ problems.
The cultivators, who are frustrated with the authorities for their negligence, have reportedly decided to leave their plantations as they are suffering losses.
They have stated that it was impossible to harvest sugarcane and become profitable without water, and that they had intimated the Sanjivani sugar factory management several times about their problems, but the latter had not reacted.
Subhash Devli, a cultivator from Dhamse, stated, “This water problem has been affecting us for the last four years, but this year it has created havoc. Many families rely on the earnings from sugarcane cultivation, which the authorities know very well. The authorities’ negligence has demoralized the cultivators.”
Gopal Gaonkar, another cultivator, said, “It’s funny to note that the Mhadei River is flowing in this area but sugarcane farmers are thirsting for water for over five months. It proves that the government machinery has totally failed in this regard.”
