Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana workers showed weathered crop to Kolhapur district officials
They accused govt of ignoring the devastation on the ground while excluding several rain-deficient talukas from the state’s list of 265 drought-hit talukas. The outfits also questioned the methodology used to identify drought-hit areas under Trigger 1. They demanded that all affected villages recording a dry spell of more than 25 days and crop losses exceeding 50% be included in the drought-hit list.
“Both talukas had no rain for three straight weeks and, therefore, qualify as drought-hit. Because there is a ban on lifting water from rivers,” said Bhagat Jadhav of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, crops are dying. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Kolhapur | Silver Rate in Kolhapur | Bank Holidays in Kolhapur | Public Holidays in Kolhapur Stay updated with the latest Kolhapur news.
Farmers said the official assessment didn’t match what they were seeing in their fields. Omitting these talukas from the drought list under such dire circumstances is like rubbing salt into the farmers’ wounds,” said Ajit Powar, district president of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana. They said considering an entire taluka as a single unit could mask severe distress in individual villages and revenue circles.
At Urun Ishwarpur, workers of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and Prahar Sanghatana burnt dried soybean plants outside the tehsildar’s office. They demanded that Shirala and Walva talukas be declared drought-hit. The groundwater level has gone down. The anger spilt over into neighbouring Kolhapur. Farmers carried dried-up paddy and soybean plants to the district collector’s office and handed them to officials. They demanded that the drought-hit list include rain-deficient talukas, including Hatkanangle and Shirol. “These talukas received extremely low and inadequate rainfall this year. Consequently, kharif crops have been completely destroyed, and groundwater levels have plunged drastically. A severe drinking-water and livestock-fodder crisis has emerged in the villages. Whatever the official paperwork and statistics may claim, the reality on the ground is that crops have been utterly ruined. In a petition submitted to officials, they demanded that drought be assessed at the revenue circle and village levels, based on actual conditions on the ground. Download the TOI App.
Kolhapur : Dried-up crops in hand, farmers, angry about being left out of Maharashtra’s drought map, hit the streets in Sangli and Kolhapur on Monday.