Thousands of Paddy Farms in Arakan Damaged in Tidal Surge

Taungup: Thousands of paddy farms in Arakan State were damaged in a recent tidal surge after a storm brought heavy downpours across the state in the last few days, sources report.

A farmer from Taungup Township said, "At least 20 embankments were broken down in our area after heavy tidal waves destroyed the embankments, which were constructed to prevent salt water from entering our farms."

In southern Taungup Township there are over 10,000 acres of paddy farms that were damaged after heavy tides brought salt water onto the farmlands.

Farmers from many villages in southern Taungup Township, including Bu Shwe Maw, Kyaw Gai, Nga Roke Taung, Shouk Inn, Kyauk Wai, Thein Chaung Byin, and Nget Pyo Daw, are now suffering from the damage to their farms in the tidal surge.

"The salt tide often enters farms in our area during the full moon days throughout the rainy season, but it does not often have a large impact. But this year the situation is very bad and all paddy fields were damaged by the heavy tide," the farmer said.

According to local farmer sources, the paddy is now swollen and will be ripe very soon in Arakan, but all the paddy farms located along the coastal area had their crop damaged by salt-water tide.

In Arakan State, there are a large number of embankments and dams constructed by the government and locals to prevent the salt water from the sea from entering the paddy farms. This time, however, the surge was unusually high and destroyed many of the embankments when the storm crossed the Bay of Bengal on 9 October.

A large number of embankments located in several townships, including Kyuak Pru, Myay Bon, Pauk Taw, Taungup, Min Bya, Sittwe, and Maungdaw were destroyed by the recent tide, leading to damage of the farms.

Even though farmers in Arakan State were hit hard by the tidal surge, there has been no cooperation or aid from the government for the farmers who now need help rebuilding the embankments and re-cultivating their farmland.

"The authorities in our area are very busy with the upcoming election and they are not interested in the recent situation of Arakanese farmers after the storm. The authorities are now trying only to gain victory for the government-backed USDP in the election, and they do not consider the peoples' affairs, whatever they may be facing," the farmer said.

Source:http://www.narinjara.com/details.asp?id=2764