Malda: Continuous rainfall over the past three days, triggered by a low-pressure system, has caused severe damage to farmlands across Malda district, leaving thousands of farmers distressed.
According to the district Agriculture department, the average rainfall in the last 24 hours has been 93.7 mm, with Bamangola and Habibpur recording the highest at 150.8 mm and 133.6 mm, respectively.
Heavy downpours have inundated vast stretches of paddy, mustard, maize, and winter vegetable seedbeds across northern Malda. Farmers in Harishchandrapur’s Bhingol and Kalanajirpur villages were seen wading through submerged fields. “I had taken loans to cultivate this paddy. The harvest was just days away. Now everything is gone. If the government doesn’t compensate us, we are finished,” said Nur Alam, a farmer from Kalanajirpur. In Old Malda Block, around 1,000 hectares of paddy and 200 hectares of mustard fields are feared to be damaged. Many farmers who had harvested early crops left them in the fields to dry, but the sudden rainfall has left the produce waterlogged.
Assistant Agriculture Officer of Old Malda, Rupam Barua, said: “A detailed report on the extent of loss is being prepared. We are closely monitoring the situation to support affected farmers.”