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Rodent havoc triggers food crisis in Mizoram

Written by The Hindu

Saturday, 08 March 2008

NEW DELHI: Nearly 1,00,000 people are going hungry as a largely unreported crisis unfolds in Mizoram following bamboo flowering, a phenomenon that occurs in the northeast every 48 years, according to ActionAid, an international anti-poverty agency.

Bamboo flowering triggers an explosion of rat population as it thrives on bamboo seeds. These rodents have caused widespread destruction of crops, says the agency.

An ActionAid assessment team that visited some of the worst-hit districts has called upon government agencies to intervene immediately with food aid and livelihood support. Distress sale of land and other property is also being reported across the State as farmers have exhausted their food reserves. The State estimates that an additional 5,740 tonnes of rice will be needed over the next two months to feed the people, says ActionAid.

“Fund inadequate”

The Mizoram government declared the area disaster-affected about two months ago and issued an appeal for aid from the Centre. But the National Calamity Contingency Fund allocation of Rs. 8. 81 crore falls way short of relief requirements.

An ActionAid assessment indicates that food aid is urgently required for at least 10,000 families across 200 villages who are struggling to get one meal a day. Many are foraging the forests for roots and herbs.

Source: The Hindu

Comments

Written by Guest on 2008-03-09 01:15:12

I think it is one of the saddest news I ever heard in my life. And I extremely blame our state Politicians for misapportionment of and misuse of funds. Actually,central Gov't had already sanctioned sufficient amounts to meet this forthcoming calamities,but due to corruption relief funds were gone deep into their bellies and it is ashameful thing to ask again and again. More over, wrong decision regarding fighting of this calamities like buying of snares and traps for killing wide-spreaded rats, for instance,rats are useful tools in spreading dead bamboo seeds all over the entire region for the new bamboo to grow,and the simply killing of rats can cause another problem relating insuuficient growth of new bamboos. So the proposal of buying such were a wrong decision, and, instead,they should have distributed such relief funds to the families whose incomes were lower than others. This was the best way to fight this kind of calamity situation/s but its already late now to start again right ab initio.

Begging the Central Gov't again and again is ashameful thing for our wrong and misdeeds, it makse me realize feel we are the said real christian beggers, in one hand and we have to do so since we are not capable to help ourself in fihting this natural calamity,on the other hand.

Finally, i hope the state gov't would realise their false deeds and take an appropriate steps to cope up this kind situation and lead our state poeple self-economise way and develope the standard of living of the people, they should not concern only thei own belly instead,they shloud concern about poor and lower class people and this is the way of christianity and practice of christians.

"what a friend we have Jesus Christ,he is always ready to help us when we are in the time sad,feel so insecure, panic, and in the time of this kind of natural calamities and so on. Lets keep praying to God to hear us and lets let him know our problem,and every thing will be okhayed soon".

Emn...

burgerstud2005
Written by burgerstud2005 on 2008-03-09 01:31:06

I fully agreed with the above comments.Baffacos is a very good scheme but its implementations by the government did not give a good results.