On Sunday, an attempt was made to divert water from the canal into a small drain so as to avoid overflowing of the canal. However, unfortunately, the sides of the canal and the drain cracked out simultaneously, leading to large quantity of water surging into the village. With this over 25 acres of land belonging to the villagers were inundated. Further muck, waste and plastic too have been deposited in the farmland, posing difficulty to the farming community of the region.
“The monsoon had just started and the ones concerned took up the canal diversion work without informing us. Along with the land acquired by the Government, our private farmlands too have been inundated due to the foolish move of the department,” says Rathna R Shetty.
She says that while her family and several others have not yet been given compensation for the acquired land, they somehow had learnt to live with what has been left for them. However, these kinds of man-made problems will make their life worse. If flooding becomes a routine during rains then, they will have no option but to leave the place and shift elsewhere.
“We had just sown paddy seeds. Everything is over because the artificial flood has not just washed away the seeds but has deposited muck in the field, leaving it uncultivable,” says Ms Shetty with damp eyes.
Susheela Shetty, another victim says that she is one of the persons who lost her fertile land for Varahi project. “I have not received any compensation so far. The canal has been laid very close to my house. The officials had promised us that we will be safe here despite the canal. I realize that we are not safe here at all,” she says glancing at the inundated fields.
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