Mining renders farmlands barren

ROURKELA: His 19 acres of farmland lies waste as the rapidly increasing mining activities in mineral-rich Koira block of Sundargarh district has ensured that Sudarshan Patra (32) works in the mines and not in the field.Patra of the interior Raikela village under Dengula panchayat is among the long list of farmers who have given up agriculture. They blame the mines overburden for rendering the fertile farmlands barren. A thick layer of the mining overburden covers the field in several areas even today.Sources said farmlands are located at a lower height than mines and as the overburden flows down with rainwater the fields get covered with it and over a period of time the process leaves the land barren.In the absence of official assessment, sources estimate the degraded farmland to be over several hundred hectares. Koida, Kalta, Dengula, Malda and Patmunda panchayats on hilly terrains are high on mining activities and together account for 56 villages with nearly 3,857 hectares of agricultural land. In this kharif season less than 500 hectares have been taken up for cultivation.A reality check shows farmers of Patmunda gram panchayat (GP)  with a total of 923 ha land have virtually abandoned farming this year. Didan Bodhra said, “Migration in search of greener pastures is common with no more job avenues in local mines.”Sundargarh district CPM secretary Banamali Dhupal claims nearly a dozen villages including Jhirpani, Indipur and Kasira are bearing the brunt of soil degradation amid rampant mining. A local agriculture officer admits crop output is abysmally low. Declining interest of farmers is evident as during the 2010 kharif season the paddy growers of Kasira village procured only two out of 30 bags of seeds. In the current kharif season only 45 quintals of paddy seeds have been distributed among the farmers of five GPs which can at best cover only about 150 acres. Bonai-based District Agriculture Officer Kedar Nath Mohapatra viewed that through soil management the damaged farmland could be redeemed to some extent, yet it is a costly and time consuming affair. He adds efforts are on to boost farm activities in the region.