Zimbabwe declares national disaster due to drought
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday declared a state of disaster due to an El Nino-induced drought threatening food security in the country.
Timely action by the Kamarpukur gram panchayat pradhan, Rajdeep Dey, saved hundreds of acres of standing crops from being washed away by the overflowing feeder canal of the Kangsabati river. Around midnight on Saturday, the local farmers woke up to the noise of gushing water. When they rushed out they found that the Kangsabati river feeder canal which passes through their village was overflowing due to the excessive flow of water into the feeder canal from the river.
Moreover, the overflowing water was finding its way into the agricultural land area with standing potato crops, causing apprehension that the entire crop would be washed away. It turned out that the lock gate of the feeder canal was open, and river water was gushing into the canal through it.
The panchayat pradhan Rajdeep Dey, who rushed to the site after learning of the flooding, himself stepped into the ice-cold waist-deep water and with the help of some aides managed to completely close the gate after much effort of about half an hour.
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After a few hours, the water level in the feeder canal which was in spate went back to its normal state. Hundreds of acres of agricultural land area in Bangai, Dashghara, Hazarpata at Kamarpukur in Goghat with standing potato crops were saved from total ruin. Local villagers and farmers and the administration have hailed the actions taken by the pradhan that saved hundreds of acres of agricultural land with standing potato crops.
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