Farmers of the Moodushedde village near Mangaluru staged a protest, demanding compensation for the loss of crops, here on Wednesday, as the water entered the farms.
The authorities failed to remove the iron planks of the Maravoor vented dam, the water entered the farms in Adyapady, Padushedde, Moodushedde, and Kolakebailu. As a result, paddy, sugarcane, arecanut and coconut palms remained marooned, said the farmers.
The vented dam under the Zilla Panchayat is maintained by Mogarodi Construction Company.
As all the planks of the vented dam were not removed, the Padushedde and Moodushedde area have been marooned.
“We are incurring losses. Who should be held responsible,” asked Padushedde farmer Karunakara Nayak.
Mogarodi Construction company representative Subbu said, “We do not have authority to remove the planks before the end of May. Following heavy rain in April, the water level increased in the dam. As a result, a few planks could not be opened.”
The dam with 80 vents has 240 iron planks, of which 154 have been removed. Owing to the heavy rain and flood, the remaining could not be opened.
Farmer Ramanath Athar said, “We did not encounter any problem last year. The Mogarodi Construction had removed all the planks on time last year. Now, we have incurred losses. The compensation should be distributed at the earliest.”
Moodushedde Gram Panchayat president Hariprasad Shetty said, “The problem is caused due to lack of maintenance. The issue will be brought to the notice of the Zilla Panchayat and MLA Umanath Kotian.”