Farmers of four districts in West Bengal worst-hit by Cyclone Dana

Kolkata, Oct 30 (IANS) Farmers in four districts of West Bengal were the worst affected by Cyclone Dana, state Agriculture Department said.

In Bankura, 2,10,559 farmers were affected, followed by 1,44,450 in East Burdwan, often referred to as the granary of the state because of its high soil fertility enabling rich production of a variety of crops, especially paddy.

The two coastal districts of East Midnapore and South 24 Parganas were in the third and fourth positions with the number of affected farmers there being 1,23,000 and 85,625 respectively.

The other districts in South Bengal where the numbers of farmers affected by Cyclone Dana were significant, include Jhargram, Hooghly, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and Birbhum with the number ranging between 1,000 to 27,000, sources in the state secretariat Nabanna said.

However, state government sources said the number of affected farmers was tentative and there might be additions to the figure after the final calculation.

Experts in the related field said the farmers in different districts had been affected twice this year due to heavy crop loss.

The first crop loss was due to excessive rainfall during the monsoon this year followed by the compulsive water release by Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), resulting in inundations of farmland in different pockets for a considerable period.

After the monsoon flood situation, Cyclone Dana led to heavy showers, resulting in fresh inundation of farmland.

Already the impact of crop loss can be felt as vegetable prices skyrocketed in different retail markets in the state, especially those in the state capital of Kolkata.

The prices of vegetables also surged before the festivities of Kali Puja and Diwali.