MALKANGIRI: With over 90 per cent of standing crops in 40 gram panchayats in Kalimela and Podia blocks damaged, farmers, pani panchayat members and locals recently laid siege to Potteru Irrigation Division Executive Engineer’s office demanding that the region be declared ‘drought-hit’.Besides deficit in rainfall, the breaches in the Gompakunda Main Canal near Bhejngwada (M.P.V-125) have affected crops in the region. The irrigation project authority is yet to repair the breaches detected two months back. A contractor has been assigned the job but it is yet to be executed.The crops could have been saved if the irrigation department officials had repaired the breaches. It would have ensured supply of canal water to the agriculture lands, said a pani panchayat and Lugel gram panchayat ward member Panchuram Sarkar. The breaches would affect the ensuing rabi crop if not repaired, he added. Terming the drought as man-made, a Zilla Parishad member Paritosh Sarkar blamed the irrigation department officials for the situation. We took up the matter with the authorities concerned but to no avail, he alleged.Expecting a good harvest, the farmers of the region had hoped to repay their loans, said Lugel Sarpanch, Sandi Suba. To help the affected farmers tide over the loss, the protestors urged the Government to declare both the blocks as drought-hit and extend all benefits to the farmers. They urged the Government to generate more work under MGNREG scheme to ensure that no villager migrates to other states during a bad crop season.
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