The impact of the Ramel has left the farmers of Singur, Pandua, Tarkeswar and Arambagh with huge losses. The cyclonic storm, followed by incessant rain has destroyed most of the crops, oilseeds and vegetables.

The Hooghly zilla parishad krishi karmadhyak MadanMohan Koley said the district agriculture department had made aware the farmers about the approaching cyclonic storm and directed the farmers to take preventive measures to save the crops and agricultural products.

Some of the affected farmers, Mukto Das, Kustu Phakhira and others said even though we were warned of approaching cyclone, we were helpless since the crops, oilseeds, vegetables were not yet ready for reaping. However, we worked to make way for the rain water to drain out from the agricultural land but all our efforts went in vain.

The pointed gourd (parval, potol), betel leaf plants rested on a height from the land but by the impact of the cyclonic storm, the bamboo-made structures broke, bringing down the plants. Moreover, we raised sesamum, groundnut oil seeds, cauliflower and vegetables of every kind, the heavy to very heavy showers inundated acres of agricultural land. The huge volume of rain water stagnated in the fields. We are now burdened with loans and huge loss of our agricultural products.

We are hopeful that the agricultural department will carry out on-spot assessment of the loss and provide us appropriate compensation.

Source - https://www.thestatesman.com