Farmers unable to avail insurance for burnt crops

Ramu, one of the victims of the fire, claims that village cooperative society officials had initially told the four sugarcane farmers who approached them that insurance coverage does not include fire accidents. “When we met the officials, they first told us that crop insurance does not cover fire damage,” he said.

When Ramu had argued to the contrary, one of the officials said that he could not claim insurance as his insurance had been approved only one month ago. The other three farmers told the officials that the Village Administrative Officer had sanctioned loan for Ramu’s sugarcane crop five months ago. This would automatically make Ramu eligible to seek insurance. “They gave me Rs 50,000 loan and deducted Rs 2000 for becoming a member of the Village Cooperative Society,” he said.

The farmers who depend on water-intensive crops stare at an uncertain future as summer is approaching and they battle for insurance.

Raja, a resident of the village, says that the source of the fire that had extended to the Kil Palleri hamlet which has only 20 houses is not known. “It might have been caused by someone who had thrown a stub of cigarette in a corner of the fields,” he said. When the flames had spread in the fields, locals called fire officers who came from SIPCOT and doused the fire in nearly two hours.