Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, July 10: The menace of stray cattle in Diglipur is in limelight again.
According to information, the stray cattle menace has become a direct threat to the cultivation in Diglipur Sub-division.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha Daily, Diglipur Farmers’ Union, President, Mr. Kamal Halder said that stray cattle have become a real headache for every peasant/farmer who is now waging a war against these abandoned cattle.
Herds of feral cows and bulls come out of nowhere at night and invade their vegetable fields/farms in a big way, claimed Mr. Halder who is also a farmer himself and a victim of the stray cattle. Large groups of these animals completely ravage the fields they enter in, leaving no scope of defence for the farmer, Farmers’ Union, President lamented. The abandoned cattle destroy standing vegetable plants like ladies finger, chillies, brinjal, etc and also prey on vegetables and wipe out the entire plot of vegetable plants in one stroke and then return to their hideouts, he rued. The current season is for sowing paddy in paddy fields, and the farmers are going to be plagued by the very stray cattle in their paddy field as well, Mr. Halder forewarned. “It is such a headache that our entire yield is in grave peril. We have to keep round-the-clock vigil and keep ourselves armed with long sticks to chase away the stray bovines’ a bewildered peasant bemoaned.
On the other hand, raising fencing is not feasible for the farmers due to high costs and other constraints, as asserted by Mr. Halder. And after toiling in the fields throughout the day, it is not also possible for the farmers to remain awake in the night to guard their crops and vegetables, he further said.
Meanwhile, Diglipur Farmers’ Union, President, Mr. Kamal Halder said that he wrote letters to the Pradhans of a couple Gram Panchayats for an early redressal of cattle menace, and in the event when they will not get a solution to this grievous problem from the PRIs, the farmer’s community will act they deem fit to this effect, he warned.
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