Failure of Agricultural Feeders and Irrigation Schemes Exposed in Sakra Block of Muzaffarpur: Electricity Fails to Reach Fields Despite Applications Three Years Ago; Farmers Forced to String Wires Across Bamboo Poles
Muzaffarpur: While central and state governments continuously make grand claims about doubling farmers' incomes and modernizing the agricultural sector, ground realities often expose the hollowness of such statements. A glaring situation has emerged from the Sakra block in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, raising serious questions about administrative efficiency and the functioning of the electricity department. Hundreds of farmers across the block applied for electricity connections under the agricultural electrical irrigation scheme nearly three years ago, yet electricity has failed to reach their fields. Out of sheer helplessness, farmers are being forced to spend money out of their own pockets to buy wires and string electricity to their fields supported by bamboo poles.
What is the Full Problem and Reality of the Agricultural Irrigation Scheme?
Under the government's ambitious scheme to provide irrigation water to every farm, there is a provision to supply electricity connections at subsidized rates to operate tubewells and boring units installed in fields. Farmers from various villages in Sakra block duly submitted applications and completed all required formalities for this purpose.
A Three-Year Long Wait: Farmers state that they submitted their files three years ago. In the hope that they would soon be freed from the expensive costs of diesel pump sets and could irrigate their crops cost-effectively using electricity, they made numerous rounds of departmental offices.
Departmental Apathy: Due to the apathy of the local electricity department and concerned officials, files gathered dust while not a single utility pole or wire was laid on the ground. Despite repeated appeals, farmers received nothing more than empty assurances.
Compelled to Risk Lives by Stringing Power Lines Across Bamboo Poles
Agriculture depends entirely on timing. If paddy seedlings or other crops do not receive water on time, the entire harvest withers away. Under such critical circumstances, the farmers of Sakra were left with no alternative.
Procuring Wires Out of Pocket: Out of compulsion, farmers purchased electrical wires from the open market using their own hard-earned money.
Relying on Bamboo Poles: To transport electricity from distant domestic or alternative sources to their fields, farmers planted bamboo poles across the land and strung bare or lightweight wires over them to reach their tubewells.
Life-Threatening Hazards: Wires rigged across bamboo poles in open fields are extremely dangerous. During strong winds, storms, or heavy rain, these lines are highly prone to snapping, creating the constant risk of fatal electrical shocks that threaten the lives of both humans and livestock.
Outpouring of Farmers' Pain: Continued Dependence on Expensive Diesel
Expressing their anguish, the farmers of Sakra pointed out that due to the lack of official electricity connections, they remain heavily dependent on expensive diesel.
Heavy Economic Burden: Diesel prices today have skyrocketed. Operating a diesel pump set to irrigate just one bigha of land imposes a massive financial strain on farmers, continuously inflating production costs while reducing profits to zero.
Government Schemes Restricted to Paper: Farmers argue that had they received their agricultural connections on time, their crop production costs would have been lower and they would be economically secure; however, bureaucratic red tape has reduced the scheme to mere paperwork.
Questions Raised Over Silence of Public Representatives and Officials
Local farmers harbor immense anger regarding this critical issue. They accuse authorities of making grand promises during election seasons, but when the time comes to execute work on the ground, neither officials nor elected representatives bother to check on their plight.
Response from Responsible Officials: When attempts were made to contact departmental officials at the local level regarding this issue, they offered evasive responses. Officials routinely shift blame and evade responsibility by citing delays in tender processes or shortages of materials.
Urgent Need for Immediate Reforms
The plight of the farmers in Sakra block serves as a clear illustration of the massive flaws plaguing grassroots scheme implementation.
Expectations from the Administration: Farmers have demanded that the district administration and senior energy department officials order an immediate high-level inquiry into the matter and take strict action against those responsible.
Demand for Immediate Connections: Farmers have warned that if electricity connections involving proper utility poles and wiring are not extended to their fields soon, they will be forced to take to the streets in protest.
This agricultural irrigation crisis in Sakra, Muzaffarpur, highlights how deeply अन्नदाता (providers of food) still yearn for basic infrastructure. Amid official claims of development, images of farmers dragging electricity lines across bamboo poles stand as a profound blot on the administrative machinery, requiring urgent and comprehensive rectification.
