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Farmers sprinkle water on Mumbai-Nagpur highway to protect crops from dust

The farmers say that at many places, the condition of the highway is so miserable that entire asphalt layer has come off and exposed the inner layer of gravel and dust, thereby increasing their woes.

Farmers sprinkle water on Mumbai-Nagpur highway to protect crops from dust

Representational Image (Photo: iStock)

The poor condition of the Mumbai-Nagpur highway is keeping farmers in several villages along its 75-km stretch in Aurangabad busy as they are forced to sprinkle water on the potholes-ridden road to stop the dust from settling on their crops and hampering their growth.

The farmers say that at many places, the condition of the highway is so miserable that entire asphalt layer has come off and exposed the inner layer of gravel and dust, thereby increasing their woes.

According to farmers, they have to sprinkle thousands of litres of water every week to keep the highway wet to stop the dust from forming a layer on the crops.

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Talking to PTI, Dattatray Mete, a farmer from Dahegaon Bor village in the district said, “The stretch of highway between Aurangabad to Vaijapur is dotted with big craters. The condition has remained unchanged in the last two decades. The asphalt layer of the highway has come off completely at many places.”

“Due to this, the dust below the asphalt layer gets exposed. Whenever a vehicle passes by, the dust gets kicked up and it settles on the crops in the fields lying along the highway. As the dust covers the entire crop, it hampers their growth,” he added.

“In order to tide over this problem, we have started sprinkling water on some stretches of the highway, which witnesses a heavy traffic movement,” Mete added.

Another farmer, Manikrao Ugale, from the same village said the farmers are suffering losses due to the dust menace.

“During the summer season, we struggle for water. But sadly, we are now forced to use it for such purposes. The water that we use for keeping the highway surface wet is from our storage reserved for crops…Our water planning has collapsed due to this,” he added.

According to Mete, the dust menace has affected his wheat, cotton and onion crops.

“We have to spend water reserved for crops to keep the dust at bay from the crops. We spend at least 1,000 litres every single time and we have to do this activity once in two to three days,” he said.

When contacted, Tehsildar of Vaijapur Mahendra Garje, who joined his office recently, said repair work of the highway would be taken up on priority.

“I am aware of the condition of the Mumbai-Nagpur highway. We will get the road repaired as quickly as possible,” said.

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