Bardiya, August 28:

The Bardiya District Agriculture Office (BDAO) today said that floods that ravaged the district in July damaged crops worth Rs 3 crore, eroded hundreds of bighas of land and damaged roads.

Agriculture publicity officer at the BDAO Shivraj Subedi said the floods damaged crops, including paddy and maize, worth Rs 1,66,12000 planted in 5,777 hectares of land. It also damaged vegetables wroth Rs 1,50,00000 planted in 15,000 hectares of land, Subedi said.

“We have only taken into account the cost of labour, seeds and fertilizers. The figures will definitely go up if the cost of the produce is also included,” he said. The floods damaged crops planted in 60,000 hectares of land in 31 VDCs and the Gulariya municipality, the BDAO said.

“The floods every year have not only eroded land of the farmers, but also covered fertile land with sand,” a social worker Govinda Pandey said.

Floods in the Karnali and Babai rivers eroded hundreds of hectares of land and damaged roads. “The farmers lost around Rs 1 crore due to the erosion caused by the floods,” technician at the BDAO, Bhanu Bhakta Bhattarai, said. The movement of the people has been affected as the floods damaged the Hulaki road.