Hinjilicut: Owing to insufficient rainfall, a spectre of drought is looming large in pockets of this block in Ganjam district. Agricultural land is drying up and the farmers are struggling to save their crops.
They have engaged tankers to supply water to their farmlands, a report said. Hinjilicut and its peripheral areas have not received sufficient rainfall for the last two-and-a-half months.
Farmers informed that paddy saplings have started wilting due to lack of water. Some of the agricultural lands have dried up so much that cracks have appeared on the surfaces.
With no option left, the farmers are now bringing in tankers to water the parched land. This is creating a huge dent in their pockets. Paddy has been grown in over 6,000 hectares of land in this block.
Unless the saplings are watered in a proper manner, there is every possibility of them dying. In non-irrigated areas like Durbandh, Dayapalli and Gandala panchayats, farmers have pinned hope on divine intervention, by organising ‘toad marriages’, a traditional belief of the local people.
Myth has it that ‘frog marriages’ will appease the rain god. Farmers in these three panchayats said that if there is no rain in the next three days, it will be very difficult for them to save the saplings.
PNN