Flood of Tears: 2021 began on a disastrous note for villages alongside the Saryu Canal as it flooded agricultural lands, again

The Saryu Canal that is supposed to help irrigate 14 lakh hectares of land in eastern Uttar Pradesh is a harbinger of destruction and despair year after year. Farmers watch helplessly as the canal walls collapse and their lands drown.

Daya Sagar
| Updated: January 7th, 2021

January 3, the first Sunday of the new year, washed in a flood of troubles for 44-year-old Sheelawati Devi. The Saryu canal that flows by her field collapsed yet again, and on that chilly afternoon, she stood in the freezing water, fighting a losing battle as she tried to drain her wheat field with a small vessel. 

Sheelawati and her husband live in Mainseer village in Sant Kabir Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh, 235 kilometres away from state capital Lucknow.  She cultivates paddy and wheat in her little-less-than a bigha (.25 hectares) of land and grows just enough to sustain her family for a year. Her husband’s daily wages bring in provisions such as cooking oil and vegetables. However, because of the lockdown, her husband has not had much work and they are struggling. 

Hundreds of farming households like Sheelawati’s, located along the Saryu Canal in the southern part of Sant Kabir Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh face the same problem. The canal, which flows across nine districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh from Bahraich to Maharajganj, is supposed to provide irrigation to about 14 lakh hectares of land, but instead of being a saviour, the canal has turned out to be a disaster. 

In the morning hours of  January 2, the mud wall of the canal collapsed near Tameswarnath police post in the district causing a deluge in the fields of about half-a-dozen villages nearby, including Naurangia, Manjharia, Bhainsa, Mainseer, Bheriya and Ganga Deoria. The flow was so ferocious that there is still water of up to five feet in many fields. 

It is wet, freezing and desperate in the villages and not for the first time. 

The canal gives away every season, every year, at the same place and hundreds of acres of crops are devastated. The seeming apathy of the government to this recurring loss of farmers in the region has led to considerable resentment amongst them. 

“Neither potato, garlic nor wheat is left. Everything is ruined. This has been happening every single time for the last four years, but government officials are not paying any attention,” complained Budhiram, a 54-year-old farmer from Naurangia village, who grows vegetables such as potato, tomato, onion, garlic in his eight bighas (two hectares) of land and sells them at the local market to support his family. 

Flooded agriculture lands of farmers. Photo: Daya Sagar

“I had hoped to get three to four quintals of potatoes. I ended up with only three-four kilos. Everything else is wasted,” Budhiram told Gaon Connection. “The government has never really given any compensation till today. If only it repaired the canal, it would provide us relief. Otherwise, I will be forced to work for wages to support my family,” he said.

Besides wheat, many farmers had also cultivated mustard, lentils, sugarcane and vegetables. Some of them who were practising aquaculture watched helplessly as their fishes were washed away in the deluge. 

Deepak Kumar of Ganga Deoria village had taken a loan of Rs 1.5 lakh to do fish farming on 10 bighas (2.5 hectares) of land. He had also raised another Rs 50,000 for the enterprise. “There were mostly small fishes in the pond, and they were swept away. I had hoped to earn up to five lakh rupees, but now I cannot think of any way to repay my loan,” Kumar bemoaned. 

Villagers trying to catch fish. Photo: Daya Sagar

Manish Pal of Mainseer had also taken around 4.85 hectares of land on lease for fish farming but his fishes too were washed away, causing him a loss of about Rs 5 lakh. 

Most farmers in the area belong to the marginalised castes and have medium and small holdings of 0.2 to four hectares of land, which they cultivate. Many are also agricultural labourers who undertake farming on land belonging to big farmers under the Adhiya system, where they give up half their harvest as rent.  

“Only two days ago, I tended to the wheat on my land and was so happy to see masoor also coming up well. But now, all of it is submerged in water,” 62-year-old  Kalawati Devi lamented. She had taken two 0.8 hectares of land on lease from a large landholder, and sown wheat, mustard and lentils, only to see her crops washed away. 

Budhiram taking out the remaining crop in his farm. Photo: Daya Sagar

“My household has 14 members. The men farm and also work as construction labourers and go out to Delhi and Punjab to earn. Lockdown brought everything to a close and the flooding problem has added to our woes,” Bodoma, another woman farmer, cried. She said that had the government not provided them with free ration under the Antyodaya Yojana, their family would have starved during COVID-19 lockdown. With the recent loss of crops, they once again are dependent on that scheme to survive acute poverty and hunger. 

Even the big farmers are in trouble. Panna Pal who owns 3.64 hectares of land was forced to sell 1,21 hectares to tide over his expenses when his wheat, and later, paddy crop was ruined. And because he did not qualify as being ‘below poverty line’, he did not get any benefits from the Antyodaya Yojana either.  

These women hope they will get compensation for the crop loss from the government. Photo: Daya Sagar

Another farmer, 48-year-old Rajesh Pal, pointed out that more than compensation, the government should provide a permanent solution to the problem. “We have been demanding proper repair of the canal for many years,” he said. Pal did not get any benefit from his insurance company either as his damages came out of man-made calamity, not a natural one. “I pay a crop insurance premium of five thousand five hundred and eighty rupees but when my paddy crop got ruined, the insurance company’s agent told me that I will not get any money,” he said.  

The irrigation department team is surveying the area to see how many families are affected. A report will be prepared and given to the district administration soon, Vijay Kumar, executive engineer of the irrigation department, told Gaon Connection.  He admitted that the canal structure was old and frail. When the water level in the canal receded, repairs would be carried out at the site so as to avoid future mishaps, Kumar said.

Map of Saryu Canal Project. This project was started in 1980 but has not been completed even in 40 years. Source: Central Water Commission.

Divya Mittal, who has just taken charge as district magistrate of Sant Kabir Nagar acknowledged that the repeated collapse of the canal walls was a matter of great concern. “I will call for old records from the irrigation department and try to determine whether it is the contractor or the engineer who is at fault, and they will be held accountable,” she told Gaon Connection. However, since this was not categorised as a ‘natural’ calamity, there was no government provision for compensation, she explained. But, she said, she would see how the farmers could be best compensated for their losses. 

(with inputs from Anuj Tripathi)

Read the story in Hindi.