Padmapur (Bhadrak): After a delayed monsoon, swollen rivers have turned out to be the main cause of concern for farmers in Bhadrak district.
With Kanchudi, Dhala and Mantei rivers breaching their banks, over two-foot high flood water is flowing over the paddy fields in Dharamsaranbindha and Sahada Haripur villages of Sahada panchayat under Bhadrak block.
The scene is quite similar in Kusunabindha, Kanjikhia and Sugo villages of Sugo panchayat under Basudevpur block, Kapagadia, Sanandpur, Padmapur and Sarttarpur villages of Padmapur panchayat, Edtal panchayat, Badakiari and Moujudi villages of Lunga panchayat, Dadhibamanpur, Sunabhuin, Dangamal and Bandhasahi villages of Jagannath Prasad panchayat.
Farmers are apprehensive of their paddy saplings getting damaged if the water continues to stand for two more days.
Padmapur samiti member Banaj Kumar Mahapatra alleged that the water from the farmlands could not flow out through the Melaksahi sluice gate, constructed with an aim to control flooding.
Worried local farmers alleged that the government is not taking any step to solve the issue even though it keeps recurring nearly every year.
They said they would be forced to agitate and demonstrate, if no permanent step is taken in this regard.
PNN