1.18 lakh hectares of cultivation destroyed in Kodagu

Team Udayavani, Aug 19, 2019, 12:50 PM IST

Madikeri: The various crops grown in 1.18 lakh hectares of agricultural land has been destroyed by the torrential rains that poured down on the district recently. This has caused a major loss to the farmers here. On the other hand, the damage to the basic facilities, collapse of houses and other reasons too has led to heavy losses. According to the first report, the estimated damage is at Rs 579 crore. Since this was a quick survey, the damage estimation may also increase, clarifies the district administration.

Crop loss details

The natural disasters that occurred in Madikeri, Virajpet and Somwarpet taluks has caused much loss to the cultivators there. 3,623 hectares of paddy cultivations has been razed leading to a loss of Rs 4.52 crore. 1 lakh hectares of coffee cultivations have been decimated causing a loss of Rs 51.85 crore. Black pepper spread across 6,350 hectares of land had been destroyed leading to a loss of Rs 66.65 crore, announced the district administration officially.

Similarly, 40 hectares of maize, 1,579 hectares of areca nut, 904 hectares of ginger, 2,241 hectares of banana plantations, 1,806 hectares of elaichi, 380 hectares of various vegetables, 18 hectares of fish rearing have been damaged. Due to the inclement weather, it is estimated that crops spread across 1,18,975 hectares of land has been damaged causing a loss of Rs 266.52 crore.

The flooding caused by the torrential rains has damaged roads, government buildings, lakes and drains. 81 works worth Rs 10023,45 lakh within PWD limits have been damaged while 786 works worth Rs 957 lakh under rural development engineering department have been affected, Rs 150 lakh worth damage has been incurred by 75 Aanganwadi buildings, 168 schools have been damaged worth Rs 252 lakh, 14 hospitals have been damaged to the tune of Rs 21 lakh, 131 works worth Rs 300 lakh of the water supply and cleanliness department has been affected, Rs 675 lakh worth of damage incurred by 27 works under water department, 223 works if the urban development department has incurred a loss of Ra 3305.50 lakh, 15 works of PMGSY worth Rs 557.30 lakh and 1 work of the drainage council worth Rs 4,20 lakh has been damaged. Overall it is estimated that around 3,020 works of various departments have been damaged to the tune of Rs 305.91 crore.