the goan I network
MARGAO
Members of the Tenants Association of Betalbatim have blamed the government for inundation of their paddy fields with sea water, even as they blamed the administration for not extending any help to maintain the bundhs and sluice gates.
They also blamed the administration for turning a blind eye to the rampant filling of low-lying fields.
President of the Tenants Association of Betalbatim, Santolim Fernandes, told the media that the farmers, who have sowed paddy seeds ahead of the monsoon season are in a quandary as the sea water has found its way into the paddy fields.
“Sea water has found its way into the paddy fields though a breach in the bundh. While the sluice gate has been closed to stop the sea water from entering the fields, it has found its way through the bundh,” he said.
Santolim pointed out that vast tracts of the paddy fields have been inundated with sea water, leaving the farmers in a tight spot over the fate of the paddy seeds. “The tenants association has been being doing its duties as per the rules in force, but we have found the government agencies wanting in discharging their duties. Strengthening of the bundh would have stopped the flow of water into the fields,” he added.
Santolim also blamed the government agencies for turning a blind eye to the rampant filling of low lying paddy fields. “In the past, even if sea water had found its way to the fields in the vicinity of the coast, the water had never reached the cultivated fields. The filling of low lying fields has aggravated the situation. The sea water immediately reaches the paddy fields under cultivation in the first rains itself,” he said.
