Soil filling work is underway on the land allotted for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project in East Baichchar (now Roop Charakanika) mouza in Ishwardi of Pabna. Hundreds of Bighas of these lands have crops planted by farmers.
After three months, it will be time to take these crops home. On Thursday afternoon, these farmers staged a protest on the cultivable land. At this time, they demanded consideration of concerned authorities including the Minister of Science and Technology.
Affected farmers said, “Farming is our profession. For a long time we have been making a living by cultivating these land and producing various crops. This year banana, lentils, khesari, peas, wheat, gourd and brinjal have also been planted on these lands”.
They added nobody forbade them while planting seeds. They have spent Tk 2 crore for planting about 1-lakh banana trees on 250 Bighas of land. Besides, a lot of money has been spent on planting vegetables including lentils, khesari, wheat and peas on 200 Bighas of land.
They said that if they could not take home the crops produced at such a huge cost, they would come down on the street and starve with their family.
According to a farmer, the harvest will start after three months. “I request the people involved in the project to give us the time to harvest the crop and take it home. Otherwise, we demand compensation for the expenditure incurred on our land”.
The farmers said that earlier, 27 crore 47 lakh was allocated from the project for crop damage of 770 farmers. But due to various complications, most of the farmers have not yet received that compensation. They are worried that they will face new losses again.
In this regard, an official related to the project said, Tk 27 crore has been allocated for the compensation of crops planted on 800 acres of land in the project area. If someone has planted crops in the land newly, the project will not bear the responsibility.
Ishwardi Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) PA Imrul Kayes said, "I am not aware of the matter. Action will be taken after knowing the details".
