Farmer commits suicide after rain devastates crops

RAIPUR - A 50-year-old farmer committed suicide in Chhattisgarh after incessant heavy rains devastated his standing paddy crop, an official said Monday.

Khokhan Mandal, a resident of village Panawar in Bastar region’s Kanker district, was found hanging from a tree in his farm late Sunday. The paddy crop, for which he had incurred a debt of Rs.100,000, had been ruined by the heavy rain that had submerged dozens of villages in Bastar region.

“He was unable to bear the losses… he was already in debt and had high hopes from this season’s paddy crops but when incessant heavy rains throughout the last week submerged his crops he lost hope and took the extreme decision,” sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Arvind Ekka told reporters in Kanker, about 140 km from here.

He said local authorities were analysing the losses suffered by the farmer due to rains would make sure compensation would be paid to his family.

The water has started receding in the dozens of villages submerged in Kanker, Bastar and Bijaur districts since the almost weeklong rain stopped Sunday night. Road links from the 40,000 sq km Bastar region, a Maoist stronghold, to the state capital were snapped.