From hoes to begging bowls: drought hits Assam farmers

Friday, 17 July 2009, 22:15 IST   |    2 Comments
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Guwahati: Until recently, 55-year-old Biswajit Bora made a modest living growing paddy on his two- acre plot in Assam's Nagaon district and managed to feed his family of six. Today Bora goes from house to house with a begging bowl for survival. "There is no option left other than begging as a long dry spell has damaged my crops. If I don't beg, my two young children, wife and my elderly parents would die of hunger," Bora said in a choked voice. He is among scores of farmers in Assam who have taken to begging for survival, even as the state government declared 14 of the 27 districts in the state drought-hit. "We explored all options before setting out of our homes with begging bowls," said Ananda Das, another farmer from Raha in central Assam. Das has a tale similar to Bora -- his paddy crop was also ruined by a long dry spell that hit the state. There has been a deficit of nearly 30 percent rainfall from the beginning of June to July 12 -- the 14 districts received 414.8 mm of rain in the period compared to an average rainfall of 588.8 mm. The districts declared drought-hit are Bongaigaon, Cachar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Jorhat, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Nagaon and Sivasagar. "There has been no relief from the government's side, worsening the woes of farmers like us," Bora said. "By and large the people are generous and helpful when we narrate our plight...they try to contribute whatever is possible," Das said. Small and marginal farmers are angry after the government announced it would foot the diesel bill of farmers for using pumps to irrigate their fields. "A minuscule percentage of farmers in Assam have pumps to irrigate their fields and the government's decision to pay the diesel bill would not help the small and marginal farmers in any way," said Arun Lochan Das, another farmer hard hit by the drought. Most farmers said since they did not have pumps and depended on rains for cultivation, the government's decision to pay diesel bills would not benefit them in any way. They are seeking financial assistance to meet the crisis caused by the scanty monsoon. "The government should immediately come up with a financial package for the affected farmers or else people will be forced to commit suicide," said Biren Hazarika, a small cultivator. Assam Agriculture Minister Pramilla Rani Brahma said: "From our side we are trying our best to mitigate their woes....we must do something urgently."
Source: IANS
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