Farmers await relief after floods

By Rekhi Ram Rana,Tansen, Oct. 3: Farmers in Palpa have been left worried after floods destroyed the rice crops they had grown to feed their families throughout the year.

Farmers in Tinau, Mathagadhi, Bagnaskali, Tansen and East Riwdi areas are among those affected after floods on September 24, 25, 26 and 27 swept away their rice crops.

More than 300 farmers have so far been affected after floodwaters entered fields where rice crops were nearing harvest. Farmers in Devinagar and Jagpa of East Riwdi, Jhadewa, Rupse, Chidipani and Kaseni of Mathagadhi, Chirtungdhara and Gorsat of Bagnaskali, and Buduwa, Amlihan and Damkada of Tansen have suffered the heaviest losses. Prabin Basyal, a farmer from Tansen-9, said he would now have to buy rice after floods destroyed the crop he had grown to feed his family throughout the year. “This year, an unexpected flood wiped out the fields. There is no possibility of recovering even a single grain of rice from the field. We may have to buy food if the government provides relief,” he said.