Damaged roads prevent Lahaul-Spiti farmers from taking produce to mandis
(Sourced from PTI)
With roads and bridges damaged after heavy rains and landslides last week, over 1,500 farmers of the Udaipur sub-division in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul-Spiti district are worried about not being able to take their ripe crops to mandis this year. Farmers urged the district administration to repair roads or at least build kaccha roads to facilitate the movement of vehicles.
At least seven people were killed in flash floods in Lahaul-Spiti triggered by a cloudburst over Tozing Nullah in Udaipur on July 27. Several roads were also blocked due to landslides. Tonnes of ripe peas, cauliflowers, broccoli, iceberg lettuce, and lilium flowers are being destroyed every day as farmers are unable to take them to mandis.
"Farmers are unable to take the crops to mandis because the roads were damaged due to the cloudburst over the Tojing Nullah," said Bir Bahadur Singh, a farmer and Trilokinath Temple Kardar (main trustee of its management committee).
The Udaipur farmers sell their crops in Bandrol, Manali, Bhuntar, and Takoli mandis of the state and in different mandis of Punjab, Chandigarh, and Delhi either directly or indirectly through farm traders, he said. A woman farmer, Bhim Dasi urged the administration with folded hands to repair the roads so that farmers can take their crops to mandis.
If unable to repair immediately, the administration should at least construct kaccha roads so that trolleys and other vehicles can get to mandis, another farmer said. However, state Technical Education Minister and Lahaul-Spiti MLA Ram Lal Markanda dismissed Singh's claims of ripe crops getting destroyed.
"The temple kardar is a local Congress leader and is leveling baseless allegations of ripe crops getting destroyed," he said. When told that several other farmers, too, have expressed concern over the situation, Markanda said currently, the priority is to rescue stranded people. As many as 372 stranded people have been rescued in the last six days.
"I'm also worried about the farmers of my area as I know they grow only one crop a year. I am visiting the affected areas of my constituency instead of attending the ongoing monsoon session of the state assembly to redress their grievances," he added.
