A double whammy for mango growers of Malihabad
LUCKNOW : It’s double trouble for the mango growers in the prime Malihabad mango belt on the outskirts of Lucknow. They say they are battling a “mysterious disease” in which Covid-like symptoms have claimed several lives. Besides, the second wave of the pandemic and restrictions have impacted their livelihood due to a dearth of labour and transportation. Some of the farmers say they are now in a hand-to-mouth situation.
Indeed, with all people indoors, shops closed and roads deserted, Kasmandi Khurd, a gram panchayat in the Malihabad development block of Lucknow, wears a desolate look.
It’s not the “lockdown” effect (Uttar Pradesh has been under a partial corona curfew since April 30 evening). Rather, the rural folks say the “mysterious disease” is forcing people to stay indoors. Within a span of 20 days, the villagers say the gram panchayat has witnessed more than 30 deaths, which is unprecedented in its history. Since none of the patients went for the Covid test, the villagers say they don’t know if the cause of death was Covid or the “mysterious disease” which causes breathlessness and fever.
The grim scenario has compounded the woes of people in Malihabad inhabited by around 5,000 mango growers. Malihabad alone has 10,000 hectares of land engaged in cultivation of the fruit.
The mango growers have blamed “circumstances” for spoiling their crop this year.
The “deadly trend” began almost a month back when migrants began pouring in ahead of the panchayat elections, the villagers say.
“It was only after elections that the mysterious disease started afflicting people in our gram panchayat and, within days, it had claimed more than 30 lives,” says Uday Shankar Rawat, former village head of Kasmandi Khurd.
Rawat also says he does not know if the cause of death is Covid or something else as the villagers didn’t go for Covid tests, but almost all had breathlessness and fever.Ram Avtar, resident of Kasmandi Khurd, was perhaps the first to die.“Until 20 days ago, he was fit and used to work in the fields despite his age of 60 years. But one day he started complaining of breathlessness. He died within hours,” says Rawat.
Sundar Lal, 55, another villager, was the next to die of breathlessness and fever.
“Since then, almost every day we witness one or two deaths. The trend has not stopped. More than 30 deaths have been reported in our gram panchayat so far,” says Rawat.
The villagers here say they are still awaiting vaccination and the distribution of medicine kits.
Another village Sindharwa is said to have witnessed more than a dozen deaths, according to the locals. “Most of the people who died were above 60. They all died from fever and breathlessness. Since nobody went for tests, it is not sure that they died of Covid,” says Mohammed Rizwan Siddiqui, former village head of Sindharwa. He says that one or two people were hospitalised but they did not survive even after paying huge bills. See
ing this, other patients preferred to stay home. Gradually, all of them succumbed. The situation is no different in other villages of the Malihabad development block.The UP government has launched a major testing drive in the rural areas of the state, anticipating a rise in Covid cases after the panchayat elections. The campaign also covers the rural pockets of Lucknow.
“Testing, tracing and treatment are our topmost priorities. We are carrying out door-todoor survey in the rural pockets and distributing medicine kits among the villagers,” says Lucknow district magistrate Abhishek Prakash.
Besides, the district administration has directed the health department to set up vaccination booths at the primary health centres (PHCs) and the community health centres (CHCs) in order to break the chain of Covid-19.
Yet to recover last season’s losses
The mango growers, reeling under an acute crisis after the last mango season was hit by the nationwide lockdown, say they are in dire straits again.
“We are yet to recuperate the losses incurred in the last mango season when our crop was completely destroyed due to the want of labourers and pesticides that were not available in time due to the lockdown. And now again when mango season is at its peak, the cases are on the rise. Already the yield is very low this year. The dearth of labour and transportation facilities is adding to the woes of the mango growers,” says Mohammed Miyan, the village head of Mujasa village. He owns a mango farm in Malihabad.
He says many farmers are yet to repay the loans they took last year for their crops. This year, the crop suffered a caterpillar attack, he adds.
Insram Ali, president of the All India Mango Growers’ Association, says, “The mango crop is completely destroyed because of unavailability of labour due to Covid 19 and government restrictions. Like the previous year, this year, too, the mango growers suffered huge losses.”Mango is produced on a total of 23,589 hectare of land in three tehsils of the state capital — Malihabad, Mall and Kakori that comprise the mango belt here, records of the state horticulture department suggest. Malihabad is the biggest mango producer in this belt with over 10,000 hectares of land engaged in mango farming, Ali says.