Flood devours 700 tons fish in Madi valley

CHITWAN, Aug 28: Flooding in the Riu river has swept way fish worth Rs 6 million being farmed in 28 ponds in the Madi area of Chitwan district.



The Riu has encircled major parts of the Madi valley, damaging houses, paddy fields and fish ponds, and the flood flash-point is Gopalnagar. [break]



“The violent flood has not only submerged our settlements but swept way all fish from the ponds, leaving farmers in difficulties over eking out a living,” said Dinesh Adhikari, a farmer in Gopalnagar, who lost fish ponds covering over four bigaha of land.



Narendra Shah, another farmer, told a similar story, stating that the flood destroyed his fish ponds covering two and a half bigha and took away fish he was rearing.



“We lost our fish at the time of harvest. We are at a loss how to celebrate upcoming festivals as we have no means of income other than fish farming,” said Shah. According to him, some 150 farmers have lost their fish ponds to the flooded Riu river at Gopalnagar, where fish farming extends over 53 bigha of land.



Madi is a pocket area for fish farming in the district, where a majority of farmers had shifted to fish farming, drawn by prospects of a handsome income, in contrast with paddy farming. A delegation of farmers victimized by flooding have met officials of the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO) in Chitwan to seek compensation.



According to DADO Chitwan, 700 tons of fish were swept away by the flood in the Madi area. Laxman Paudel, a senior official at DADO, said a process of providing compensation to farmers would be initiated once final reports on the depredation are in.



“We will sent reports on the damage through the District Natural Disaster Relief Committee to the Agriculture Ministry, which will take a final decision on compensation,” said Paudel. According to DADO, Gopalnagar area alone produces around 460 tons of fish worth around Rs 69 million annually.



DADO had provided a cash subsidy of Rs 100,000 per hectare to the farmers of Gopalnagar, who had successfully produced 200 kg of fish per hectare in one harvesting season.



In addition to Gopalnagar of Madi valley, other areas such as Bhandara, Piple, Ratnanagar, Sharadanagar, Gunjanagar and Shukranagar are also leading areas for fish farming in the district.

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