With flood waters receding in agriculture farms located on the banks of the Krishna and the Malaprabha in Bagalkot district, what is left behind now in the fields is heaps of sand.
Farmers, who were already worried about losing their standing crop to nature’s fury, are now saddled with removing the huge quantum of sand that came along with the flood waters into their farms.
According to a rough estimate, sand dunes have been created in around hundred metres of area on the either sides of the rivers in the farms.
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The heaps of sand are about one to two metres in height posing another hurdle to farmers who wish to start cultivation in their fields soon.
Officials from Mines and Geology Department who visited the area said that normally, the flood waters bring thousands of tonnes of sand but that largely gets accumulated near the reservoirs.
The officials are also astonished to see sand getting accumulated in the fields located on the banks of the rivers.
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Meanwhile, speaking to The Hindu , Deputy Commissioner R. Ramchandaran said that the district administration has constituted a team of officials, including those from the Mines and Geology Department, to assess the amount of sand accumulated in the fields after the floods.
“Since lifting sand requires the permission of the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), we will first identify the blocks and then submit a report to seek clearance for lifting sand from the fields and storing it in designated areas in the district,” he said.
He said that since construction work is under way in the flood-hit areas, this sand could be sold at a nominal price to flood victims for constructing their houses that have been damaged in the floods.
Making it clear that the district administration will take care of the expenditure for removing sand, he told farmers that they will not have to worry about removing sand from their fields.
“We will try to remove sand as quickly as possible so that farmers could at least cultivate short-term crops in their fields to earn some money. We also want to expedite the process of removing sand because any delay would enable illegal extraction of sand,” Mr. Ramchandran said.
Joint Director of Agriculture Department and agriculture expert Rajshekhar said that the huge accumulation of sand will adversely affect crops, mainly because is was black soil that already contains adequate moisture.
He said that as sand contains almost zero nutrients, the large covering of sand over the fields will damage crops extensively as it prevents photosynthesis process which is essential for the growth of plants.
“As sand holds good quantity of moisture, it is good only for dry land and certainly not for irrigated land in Bagalkot which has received floods,” he said.
The official suggested early removal of sand from the fields to prevent further damage to crop and soil.
Concerned farmers said that sand accumulation has forced them to suffer heavy loss as they had already spent money on fertilizers. The accumulated sand will take away fertilizers and affect the crop also, they said.