“Three years ago, flood washed away 13 bighas of land I owned and displaced my family. As the fields are covered with sand we cannot even grow crops.
River flows through some of the fields I owned,” said Kul Bahadur Rajbangsi of Dangibari VDC-5, adding, “However, we have been forced to make a living by cultivating the dry fields.” [break]
According to the survey conducted by Jhapa District Agriculture Development Office (DADO), the annual flooding continues to affect farmers in the district.
“Over the past five years, flooding has damaged more than 1,000 hectors of land in the district, while another 2,000 hectors have been rendered completely barren,” said DADO technician Salikram Bhattarai.
As per the government report, 766 hectors of fertile land was damaged by flooding in 2009. “In 2000, around 164 hectors of land were eroded and 603 hectors were inundated by the river flooding. Though flooding casualties have decreased, the damages continue,” said Bhattarai.
This year, flooding has eroded 101 hectors of land and inundated another 646 hectors in various parts of the district.
“More than 2 bighas of my land was damaged by flooding this year. The land cannot be cultivated for at least a decade,” said Dan Bahadur Rajbangshi of Jyamirgadi VDC.
Besides erosion of arable land, the number of families rendered homeless by the annual flooding has been increasing every year, informed Bhattarai.
Related story
Nepal's cultivable land area shrinks by 300,000 hectares to 2.2...
