Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh
Ram Vilas and his family are staring at a dark Diwali this year. On October 25, the flood waters of the Ganges entered Kasimpur, his village in Kannauj district, and washed away his crop, leaving not a blade of coriander standing.
“The level of water steadily increased for five days and my twelve bighas of coriander is completely ruined,” 32-year-old Ramvilas told Gaon Connection. He cannot afford any celebrations this Diwali as with the damage of his fields, his entire investment in his crop is lost. He had also planted mustard, and that is gone too, he said.
On October 25, Ganga was flowing above the danger mark at 125.97 metres in the area. Eighteen villages on the banks of the river were affected, about eight of them severely. Standing crops of paddy, maize, coriander, potatoes and mustard were severely damaged.
Also Read: Despite high crop losses, farmers in Kannauj may not be compensated. Here’s why
According to the irrigation department, in Kannauj, 1.1 million cusecs of water was released from the Chaudhary Charan Singh Barrage, Narora Uttar Pradesh. After the unprecedented rains in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, barrages across the states released water in several phases between October 19 and 26.
The October month floods were completely unexpected, said Ramesh Kumar, a farmer from Bakshipurva village in Kannauj district. “The volume of flood waters was so much that my entire home came under it,” the 33-year-old farmer told Gaon Connection.
“My children were home and when I called the boatman to ferry us to safety, he demanded two thousand rupees,” Ramesh Kumar said. “We somehow waited out the night and the following morning we managed a boat paying twelve hundred rupees,” the helpless father added.
Eighteen villages on the shore of the Ganga in Kannauj come under the high flood zone. Farmers in these villages have suffered heavy losses.
“Ten bighas of mustard and two bighas of coriander are ruined,” Ramdulari, a farmer from Kasimpur, told Gaon Connection. “There were untimely rains and now the floods have ruined everything. How do we survive,” the 63-year-old farmer asked in despair. “The coriander was supposed to go for a good price, but now I have nothing,” she added.
“The floodwaters of the Ganga have receded by a kilometre in Kasimpur area. There is about half a foot of water on the roads, but the fields are waterlogged,” Umakanth Tiwari, sub-divisional magistrate, Kannauj, told Gaon Connection.
Also Read: Potato prices soar but farmers continue to reel under losses. Here’s why
Government compensation
On October 31, the state government sanctioned Rs 2,080 million as compensation for 600,000 farmers in 44 districts of the state.
Before this, the government had sanctioned compensation for the rain and flood hit farmers in the state. On October 28, an amount of Rs 1,600 million was declared as compensation for crop damage to 100,000 farmers from 35 districts.
A couple of days before that on October 22 and 25, Rs 770 million and Rs 300 million was sanctioned by the state government for crop damages incurred during the rains and floods for the year 2021-22 respectively.
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