vidarbha reports daily farmers suicides victims double than nation wide deaths due to swine flu

Four more Vidarbha Drought Hit Farmers Suicides on the Eve of Independence Day

farmers suicide toll is 5 times more than swine flu toll in the country

Nagpur-14th august 2009,

when all media is busy reporting swine flu update informing that an elderly woman and a teenager boy dying of swine flu in Pune and Raipur, the pandemic toll in the country has risen to 24 but at the time farm suicide epidemic has claimed four more fresh cases cotton farmers suicides and recent victims of on going crop failure due to drought are

1.Sudam Rathode of villiage Sukali taluka Arni in Yavatmal District
2.Dilip Sahare of villige Hiwara barsa in Zari taluka of Yavatmal District
3.Hansraj Raut of villige Nilaj in Sakoli of Bhadara District.
4.Sukhadev Rathode of Gramviratha in Washim District.

They, all from different parts of western Vidarbha, waited for their brothers who were cotton farmers. These four farmers committed suicide due to sudden crop failure but the crisis in India is deep as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has officially declared that the monsoon has failed and as many as 161 districts, nearly one third of the country, have been badly affected and most of standing crop damage beyond the revival .when swine flu toll in the country has risen to 24 same farm suicide figure reported allover the India is 5 times more than toll as 124 farmers have committed suicide since June 14th this year after monsoon failed to active mostly from vidarbha and andhara ,Kishore Tiwari Vidarbha JanAndolan Samiti informed in press note today.

Vidarbha is staring at the worst ever drought this year with an unprecedented short fall in monsoon rain , pest epidamic destroying standing crop and steep decline in ground water level as these four-month (June-September) monsoon is the main source of water for irrigation in the country.

Nature seems to have turned against Vidarbha this year as with half of the kharif season over, the region has received less than 40% of the normal rainfall. If it does not rain in good measure in next five days, it could lead to a drought in the region., The situation is worse in western Vidarbha, a mainly cotton and soyabean growing area, which received a meagre 35% of the average rainfall this monsoon in the already distressed, farmers' suicide-hit Amravati division as well in eastern Vidarbha's Nagpur division
for want of rains, sowing could take place in less than 80 per cent of the total cultivable land, Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti (VJAS) informed in a letter addressed to Indian prime minister Dr.Manmohan singh urging him to send team of experts to make spot assessment of emerging severe drought like condition in farm suicide hit vidarbha .

'Maharashtra chief Minister Ashok Chavan should visit vidarbha and arrange to call for the emergency meeting of all district collectors, agriculture officers and experts, chief executive officers of zilla parishads, forest department and electricity distribution company officials to discuss measures in the event of the drought-like situation getting worse if it does not rain in the next week 'kishor tiwari of VJAS added.

As the total water in reservoirs of the major dams in the vidarbha is about 34 percent as ground water level has dropped down considerably there will not enough water for drinking water purpose hence VJAS has asked the administration to take step to protect dam water and henceforth should not be allowed for crop irrigation. VJAS urge officials to arrange fodder on a war-footing as demand is already coming for supplies from districts like yavatmal,akola,washim,buldhana where rainfall this season has been abysmally poor," said tiwari.
farmers in the drought-prone Vidarbha region of Maharashtra welcomed the first showers of monsoon which were delayed and completed the sowing of cotton and soyabean but this dry spell coupled with pest attacks have now damaged more than 50% standing cash crop of the region which has added fuel in existing despair gloom in already distressed farmers hence we want urgent relief from administration ,tiwari added.

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