CANACONA
It was the final straw in the string of woes for an orchid cultivator, when his large orchid poly house goes up in flames at Keri, a forested area of Agonda.
According to the owner Shamrao Dessai, he was informed that a huge fire was seen in the direction of his poly house is situated at Keri at about 8 pm on Saturday night.
“Normally, I visit my poly house almost daily, but on that fateful evening (Saturday), I did not visit the place. By the time I rushed there, the poly house was almost destroyed and even a fire tender was informed but could not do much. They have anticipated a loss at Rs 30 lakh,” said Dessai.
“Though some pockets were still intact, it is very difficult to manage or revive whatever is left. All electrical fittings are destroyed, water pipelines are burnt and all the orchid beds are destroyed. It is suspected that dry grass near a hillock had been set on fire and the flames then spread to my poly house.”
Dessai’s orchid poly house, which was set up in 2016 on an area of 4000 sq. mtrs, was one among the 42 other poly houses felicitated by agriculture Department under its ambitious scheme during the term of Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar as agriculture minister.
PROMISES
Since Dessai had this ancestral property under his care, he opted for the government’s poly house scheme with an initial cost of Rs 55 lakh in 2016, thinking he would put the land to good use.
“But I soon realised that I was duped as the scheme amount took more than 3 years to come, and we were forced to pay hefty bank interests on the loans we were given. Initially, I went into losses to the tune of Rs 25 lakh and the subsidy of Rs 48 lakh what they (government) had assured took 3 years.”
“By the time the subsidy came, I had to pay Rs 12 lakh as interest to the bank. So, besides the repair for the Cyclone Tauktae damage, I am already running a loss of Rs 25 lakh,” he added.
PANDEMIC
Despite the setback, Dessai still kept the poly house in operation.
“During the Covid pandemic, there was no sale for flowers and orchids worth over Rs 6 lakh got wasted. I had to pay my loan/interest from whatever I got from my voluntary retirement. I still expected some compensation from the government, and was adamant to run the poly house despite all odds.
CYCLONE
Dessai said his entire poly house got destroyed during the Cyclone Tauktae in May 2021.
“I used my own resources to repair the damage in 3,000 sq. mtrs. Following the losses suffered due to the cyclone, we submitted our claims with photos to the agriculture department and they carried out inspections through their engineers from Panaji.”
“I thought we would get some help and based on such expectations, I got the poly house repaired by spending Rs 10-12 lakh from my own funds. But till today, not a single paisa has been paid by government for the Cyclone Tauktae losses.”
“I repaired my poly house thinking that plants would die and in hindsight, it was my folly to get it repaired since I got no compensation. Even then, I was planning to bring more square metres under plantation and everything got destroyed with the fire. Now, it’s next to impossible to revive this poly house again,” lamented Dessai.
REGRET
Dessai claimed that whenever he approached the agriculture department, he would always get the reply that funds are not there or some other excuse.
“I don’t have any capacity or interest left to run this poly house. I fully blame the department and the government for not living up to their scheme. I don’t blame any minister as ministers will come and go, but the department should have ensured proper implementation,” said Dessai.
“I only appeal to people never to think of entering into a big investment project, even if the government promises a 100% subsidy. It is okay for an investment of Rs 10,000-15,000, but you cannot trust the government for big investments,” said Dessai.
