A resident of Moulakandi under Phulbari police station, Mozidur Rehman has written to Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma seeking his intervention into issues of farmers affected by the recent floods in the plain belt and who are yet to receive any compensation for the damage on their agricultural products.
“The recent flood has hit all life and properties of the people in the plain belt area of West Garo Hills. Unlike every year, this year the standing crops of the poor farmers have been completely submerged and damaged and left the poor farmers in a precarious situation to maintain their families and livelihood,” said Rehman.
The perennial problem of floods struck this year as well with most recalling that the current year was possibly the worst and lasted longer. Water from submerged houses and fields took more than a month to dry, for people living in low lying areas in some places, are yet to go back to their houses.
More than 2 lakh people were affected by the deluge with thousands having to shift to relief camps as flood waters continued to rise in both the West and South West Garo Hills. With the current COVID – 19 pandemic, the situation for most farmers is said to be precarious with paddy being the annual food stock and earning source for them.
The Lok Sabha MP from Tura, Agatha K. Sangma along with local MLAs had visited the flood affected areas to assess the damage of the high value paddy crops and also assuring to extend all her possible help to the suffering farmers and people.
“The Gram Sevak (GS) concerned have also assessed and collected all the data from the field regarding the extent of damage to the individual farmers and submitted the same to the concerned authorities. The flood situation combined with the pandemic have left most poor farmers penniless. They are in immediate need for government assistance in regaining their lost livelihoods,” stated Rehman in the letter to the Chief Minister.
He urged the state authorities to help those distressed farmers and to fast track compensation for them and their families. “On behalf of them, I fervently request the government to understand their situation and take measures to alleviate their plight,” said Rehman.
NNN