(IN): Rodent fear in Manipur

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Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080116/jsp/northeast/story_8787659.jsp

 

*Rodent fear in Manipur*

OUR CORRESPONDENT

 

**

 

*Imphal, Jan. 15: *The scourge of Mizoram has travelled to Manipur.

 

Rodents are destroying acres and acres of paddy field in Churachandpur,

raising fears of an impending famine.

 

With most their year's crop destroyed by rampaging rats, the villagers have

sent an SOS to the state government for help.

 

Take John Hmar, for instance. John harvests 35 bags of paddy annually from

his farm on the hill slopes. This year, he reaped only 10 bags, after

rodents devastated his farmland. With three children and old parents, John

does not know how to make the crop last till the next harvesting season.

 

Like John, his fellow villagers at Parbung in Churachandpur district are at

their wit's end about how to tackle the rodent menace, which was caused by

bamboo flowering last year.

 

The rats feed on the bamboo flowers, which experts say increase their

fertility. The rodents multiply at an alarming rate and attack farmlands for

food. The phenomenon, known as *mautam, *primarily affects Mizoram and parts

of Manipur.

 

A survey conducted by a team of All Tribal Students Association, Manipur,

found that though several parts of Churachandpur have been affected by *

mautam*, Parbung subdivision with 48 villages is the worst-hit.

 

" The farmers suffered a loss of about 80 per cent of their annual foodgrain

production after the rodents destroyed their grains following bamboo

flowering last year, " Joseph R. Hmar, spokesman for the tribal students'

organisation said.

 

Villagers estimated that Parbung could face a shortage of 10,000 quintals of

rice this year. If the government did not come to its rescue, Parbung would

face a famine this year, Joseph said.

 

Though the government has been providing 700 quintals of rice per month to

Parbung, it is far from what the subdivision requires.

 

" The villagers are yet to receive their quota for December. They were told

by the authorities that the district administration could not provide

foodgrains because of interference by militant outfits, " Joseph said.

 

Rebels have been demanding a certain percentage from the monthly quota of

rice, they said.

 

" Our appeal to all groups is that they should not deduct any rice from the

monthly quota of the subdivision, keeping in mind the current situation, " he

said.

 

The student leader said though the Centre has released a huge amount of

money to tackle the rodent menace, Parbung did not benefit from the funds.

 

He appealed to the government to increase the monthly quota from 700

quintals to 1,000 quintals.

 

 

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