Crops worth Rs 300 million washed away

Itahari, August 24:

The Saptakoshi River that changed course to inundate densely populated human settlements and cultivated fields in Sunsari district has washed away crops worth Rs 300 million planted in Sripur, Haripur, Paschim Kushaha and Laukaha VDCs, the areas mostly affected by inundation.

According to district agriculture office, paddy worth Rs ...

The flood damaged 2,064 hectares of cultivable land in Haripur, 1,892 hectares

in Sripur, 860 hectares in Paschim Kushaha and 776 hectares of cultivable land in Laukaha.

“The flood has buried most of the cultivable land in Haripur and Sripur. The land will no longer be fertile even if the river ebbed back to its original course,” said Sarbajit Yadav, head of district agriculture office, Sunsari. He asked the government to announce long-term relief package to the people of affected areas who are solely dependent on agriculture.

Meanwhile, Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives Jayaprakash Prasad Gupta today visited the flooded areas and enquired about the condition of

flood victims, relief assistance to the victims and damages inflicted by the flood, according to Sunsari CDO Durga Bhandari. He also visited temporary shelters of flood victims.

Minister Gupta said talks were underway with the Indian government to control the damage and insisted that the Indian Union government, not the Bihar state government, should look into the Koshi problem.

Representatives of the central committee of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, including president Kush Kumar Joshi, also visited 25 temporary camps, where the Koshi victims were taking shelter.

A joint team of FNCCI and Nepal Army also distributed food stuff and clothing to the

flood victims.