Rautahat. Rautahat: The floods caused by the Bakaiya and Bagmati rivers in Rautahat following incessant rainfall last September have caused damage to paddy crops. According to the Agriculture Knowledge Centre, paddy crops planted in 17,638 hectares of land in the district have been damaged due to floods triggered by incessant rainfall from October 1 to 19.

According to Surendra Prasad Kurmi, officiating chief of Agriculture Knowledge Centre, 17,638 hectares of paddy crops, sugarcane in 1,804 hectares of land, vegetables in 685 hectares of land, fruit crops in 407 hectares and other crops in the district have been damaged by the floods.

He said that the details of the loss were collected in coordination with all 18 local levels of the district. Rajdevi, Paroha, Rajpur, Madhav Narayan, Gadhimai, Ishanath, Maulapur municipalities and Durga Bhagawati rural municipality were among the worst hit by the floods.

He said that the details of the loss have been submitted to the District Administration Office and talks are on for relief. Of around 51,000 hectares of paddy arable land in the district, paddy was cultivated in 38,500 hectares, but the floods have damaged paddy crops in 1,638 hectares of land, he said.

It is estimated that paddy production will decrease by 74,000 metric tonnes in the district. Meanwhile, Chairperson of Durga Bhagawati Rural Municipality Shambhu Singh has demanded the government to provide the relief amount to the farmers at the earliest. The floods had displaced around four hundred households in Rautahat.

Likewise, the recent rain has damaged paddy crops. Farmers are worried as the paddy has been soaked in rain during the time of harvesting. Shivamangal Patel, a farmer of Brindavan-1, complained that the rain has not been enough to bring paddy to the district. All the paddy harvested in the fields has been inundated by the rains.