KERI: Once the rice bowl of Sattari, Pissurlem’s fields have turned into barren lands over the years. Last week’s farmers' protest for irrigation water, followed by their arrest and alleged assault by police, has brought the woes of village agriculturists into focus.
Iron ore mining accelerated in the 1990s due to mechanisation, which eventually saw perennial water sources of Pissurlem dry up. Recently, the farmers approached the high court, which in 2020 directed that water be pumped from abandoned mining pits to provide irrigation supply to Pissurlem’s farmers.
It was when the supply was not initiated this summer that the farmers decided to protest, in turn, leading to their alleged arrest and assault. Even though the district mineral foundation has agreed to make the necessary financial provision to pump water from mining pits, the farmers remain angry at the government’s apathy.
“Under natural conditions, rainwater percolates down into the soil and gradually emerges as lean period flow. But haphazard mining excavation has cut off the lean period flow and this has dried up streams and river beds. This forced us to give up agricultural activities that were once thriving in 80 acres of land at Deulwada,” said Hanumant Parab, who was spearheading the protest.
On Sunday, social activist Ganpat Gaonkar from Kumbharkhan and Abhijit Prabhudesai of the voluntary organisation Rainbow Warriors held a meeting with affected farmers at Dhatwada, Pissurlem. Here, farmers resolved to launch a statewide agitation to protest the government’s insensitive handling of the issue.
The farmers said that they had written to all the authorities concerned, including chief minister Pramod Sawant, about the high court directives on water supply not being implemented. Yet, there has been no action, farmers said. The final nail, said the farmers, was the government not ensuring compliance of the high court orders, even after they fought it out in courts at their own expense to receive favourable directives.
Babuso Shablo Gaude from Dhatwada said that frequent erosion of mining dumps and accumulation of its silt in paddy fields has resulted in declined productivity. “We have asked mining companies to desilt fields and provide irrigation water. However, neither the companies nor the government are interested,” he said.
