Purulia farmers stare at parched fields,drought

Shokha Ram Das (65) stares at his five bigha land in Dumdumi village under Chharra gram panchayat,nearly 12 km south of Purulia town...

Shokha Ram Das (65) stares at his five bigha land in Dumdumi village under Chharra gram panchayat,nearly 12 km south of Purulia town,awaiting the rains. With just 2 per cent cultivation till date,nearly 280,000 hectares of agricultural land in the district is lying vacant,facing a near drought situation.

Hundreds of farmers wake up every morning,hoping for a downpour.

I have been working in the paddy fields since childhood and have seen many difficult seasons,but this year the situation is critical. We cannot transplant paddy because of lack of rain. We cannot draw water also since there are no canals. I am old and do not have a son who can earn a living. How do I survive? said Shokha Ram.

Story continues below this ad

There are 400 families in his village and 95 per cent of them are farmers.

According to the district agriculture department,paddy cultivation is worst hit this year. Families in blocks like Ragunathpur,Kashipur,Hura,Para,Puncha,Jhalda II,Balarampur and Arsha are facing the brunt. For a district like Purulia,where over 70 per cent of families are dependent on paddy cultivation,the dry spell has brought doom for farmers. Though there are dams in Hura,Bagmundi and Arsha,the lack of rainfall has left them dry.

For Nimai Kumar (40),who has to feed a family of five in Oldih village at Jhalda II,life is hard with no earning. For the last two months,he had been toiling to roll beedis and arrange some food. Likewise,Biswanath Saran (36) works in a stone crushing factory and somehow sees the family survive through the crisis.

We are forced to work at sponge iron units, said Bhuddeswar Hemron,who owns a three-bigha land. The sole earner of his family,Subhendu Duari (26) walks miles to reach town from his village in Ramdi under Hutmuru gram panchayat in search of work everyday.

Story continues below this ad

The peak season of paddy cultivation is June-July and its transplantation needs water. The month of June receives average 323 mm of rainfall and last year it was 381.7 mm,but this year the rainfall has been only 54 mm. The average rainfall is 419 mm in July,and the figure was 429.3 mm last year,whereas this time it has been 270 mm. Purulia is facing acute shortage of rainfall. However,there is still time left for transplantation. We are waiting till August 15 before we declare a drought, said R Patra of the district agriculture department.

Paddy seedlings are also drying up,and will have lesser yields when cultivated. There are three types of land for cultivation in this district byde,(elevated land),kanali (surface level) and bohal (low-lying land). While bohal lands are witnessing some farming,nearly 60 per cent of the byde land are facing the brunt.