-Krishna Acharya
July 26 : Incessant monsoon rains have caused much damage to crops and vegetables in the Chitwan district. The excessive accumulation of water in the fields has damaged the crops. According to Agricultural Knowledge Centre Bharatpur, the rain has its impact in most parts of the district.
The hilly areas experienced damage and losses from the landslide events while the plain areas in the district suffered the consequences of inundation. In Bharatpur municipality, paddy, banana and vegetable crops cultivated in 4,000 hectares of land were damaged due to inundation.
Agricultural farming done in the downstream of Narayani river was damaged by the disaster. Ward no 16, 18, 19, 26, 27 and 28 faced the highest scale of damage. Kalika Padampur area which is popular for banana farming is not untouched by the monsoon impact. As said by Centre Chief, Rajan Dhakal, nursery plants are damaged and ruined due to the impact of storage of water more than necessary.
More, incidents of small landslide damaged crops mainly maize in some parts of hilly Ichhakamana rural municipality in the district. As Dhakal said the details of loss will be submitted to the District Disaster Management Committee to proceed for the relief distribution to the farmers.
Meanwhile, the prices of vegetables have soared in the district as supply of vegetables from the hilly areas was suspended with the closure of roads due to floods and landslides. This season sees less vegetables production in the plains and a bit more production in the hilly areas. Municipal fruits and vegetables market managing director Thir Prasad Dhital said the supply has got affected due to inundation in the plain and landslide in the hilly areas. Besides, the district imports vegetables from Dhading, Makwanpur and Bhaktapur and surrounding hilly districts and the import has been delayed, causing the price rise. The price rise is attributed to the short supply and the high transportation fare. RSS
