'There's no water, so there won't be much of a harvest': Farmer
K VS ila vat hi, a 72- yearold farmer in Anamaduwa , Kottukachchiya is frustrated that this year's harvest is bound to be fruitless due to a lack of water. She said many paddy fields have become dry lands due to insufficient water supply. She expressed her grief at not being able to get water for the crop grown in the Kottukachchiya, Mukkaliya paddy field in the Puttalam District this Yala season.
She is trying desperately to find a solution to the problem while bracing for the impending crop failure.
Paddy fields extending across 50 acres in Mukkaliya under Puranagama village, which belong to the Kottukachchiya agrarian division, have been deserted due to many reasons.
“Planting in those fields involves risks due to wild elephant attacks, yet, despite that, I worked hard for a paddy yield.
But now it’s going to be futile with insufficient water,” Silavathi said.
Paddy is the main crop, and we are totally dependent on the harvest as my son is paralysed after a gunshot injury.
She hopes President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would intervene to help her. “I raised this matter to the President in a Gama Samaga Pilisandarak meeting held at Karuwalagaswewa.”
“President Rajapaksa directed state officials to look into the matter, and still no resolution has been introduced,” she added.
When we inquired, Anamaduwa Agrarian Development Divisional Officer Go tab hay a Wijayatilake said, “The problem has arisen due to the anicut used to irrigate these paddy fields being broken. We have estimated the cost of re- constructing the anicut, but have not yet received the money. Therefore the problem persists.”