Marathwada floods: Dairy farmer loses livelihood, 37 cows in minutes

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Sep 29 (PTI) Just last week, Shriram Datkhile was a prosperous dairy farmer from the Dharashiv district of Maharashtra, having a successful business generating Rs 3.5 lakh per month.

Now, he is staying in an onion shed, and in a heart-wrenching twist of fate, is left with "no pair of clothes of his own" after catastrophic floods washed away his entire life.

Datkhile, 55 years old, and his extended family operated a prosperous milk dairy in Telgaon Pimpalgaon village of Bhum tehsil, toiled hard to develop the business from a small number of milch animals to a considerable number of cattle, including 40 cows and 20 goats.

The torrential floods that ravaged the Marathwada region of Maharashtra last week not only destroyed homes and farms — they destroyed years of labour for dairy farmers such as Datkhile, leaving behind a financial and emotional deficit that current relief efforts might not be able to compensate for.

"On the night of September 23, we were asleep when suddenly water from the Banganga River entered the village. We hardly got seven to eight minutes to save ourselves. We could only manage to rescue two of our animals. We lost everything within minutes," Datkhile's son Pravin told PTI.

He said that the family had started their business with just a handful of cattle and gradually got 40 cows and 20 goats.

"Each cow in our dairy was worth around Rs 1.25 lakh. We have incurred a loss of Rs 60 lakh, including the goats and shed. My family sold milk worth Rs 3.5 lakh a month with a profit margin of nearly 40 per cent," the 26-year-old said.

The family is now living in an onion shed built on the farm of an acquaintance, he said.

The family's guava orchard was also damaged in the floods, he said.

"The crop and cattle loss surveys have been completed. However, as per the NDRF norms, the compensation can only be given for up to three animals and that too Rs 37,500 per cattle," Pravin claimed.

Meanwhile, an NGO working for farmers claimed its helpline, Shivaar, is flooded with distress calls from flood-hit agriculturists, particularly from the rain-battered Marathwada region.

A common refrain among farmers is that government aid will be inadequate to cover their losses, Helpline founder Vinayak Hegana told PTI.

"The helpline received 274 calls on the inaugural day last week. Among the callers, 83 farmers had suicidal thoughts", he claimed.

Hegana said that 5.5 acres of a farmer's land in Latur were submerged, and fertiliser bags became wet.

He said that a private moneylender is demanding Rs 40 lakh from the farmer, including Rs 20 lakh that his late father had availed.

"The farmer told us that he was contemplating suicide and demanded that the government waive crop loans immediately," he said.

In Nanded, a farmer lost 40 buffaloes and 15 cows in a flood last month, which ruined his dairy business.

"The farmer said the compensation was inadequate and he was contemplating suicide," Hegana added.

He said agriculturists also claimed that the cattle are not being insured due to lumpy skin disease. PTI AW NSK SKL ARU