Bhubaneswar: In the wake of a Bargarh farmer committing suicide allegedly due to crop failure, the state government Wednesday convened a high level meeting, asking the expert team that has been sent to collect ground reports and submit it within 48 hours.
Agriculture minister Damodar Rout convened the meeting with Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi, Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan and department secretary at the state Secretariat, as per the instruction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
After the meeting Rout said a three-member technical team has been deputed to Bargarh district asking them to submit report within 48 hours.
Describing the death of the farmer as “pathetic”, the minister said that it is difficult to ascertain the actual reason behind the death without investigation.
“I have spoken to the Bargarh Collector over phone this morning and also to the Agriculture director yesterday (Tuesday) and accordingly a three-member technical team has been sent to the field,’’ said Rout.
According to the Agriculture minister, the district collector has informed that there has been a bumper crop in Bargarh this year. However, there are few patches of land where paddy has been damaged due to inadequate pest-control measures.
Notably, Tuesday a frustrated farmer of Brunda Sahoo of Kalapani in Bargarh district of western Orissa set his pest-affected paddy fields on fire.
It was learnt that three “frustrated’’ farmers of the district set their farms on fire Tuesday due to severe crop loss owing to pest attack.
In the first instance, Brundaban Sahu of Kalapani village did that to his seven-acre paddy field. Luckily, only one-acre paddy got destroyed while locals doused the flame before it spread. In another case, Banka Bihari Sahu of Barahagoda village torched his half-acre paddy field which got reduced to ashes.
The third incident was reported from Gaisima village. A farmer named Tosamani Mohapatra set his farm on fire.
Another sharecropper identified as Saroj Kathar (45) of Sankirda village under Bheden block also reportedly tried to torch his farm, but was stopped by revenue officials.
Bargarh MLA Debesh Acharya, tehsildar Pratibha Dora and other officials have taken stock of the situation.
Politics took over as the Congress, BJP and BJD went for the blame game.
While Congress organised a farmers’ rally in Gaisilet block under Bijepur in Bargarh, BJP also resorted to protests in several places of the district and held Minister Rout responsible for these deaths.
BJD leader Sasmit Patra said that the issue shouldn’t have been politicised. He also said that the Chief Minister has already issued instructions for submission of report on the crop failure in 48 hours and compensation will be given to all farmers immediately on the basis of relief code.
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