Kolkata/Midnapore: With Durga Puja barely two weeks away, the floods in Bengal’s flower hub of East and West Midnapore and parts of Burdwan and Howrah have triggered apprehension among puja organisers about a possible scarcity of flowers during Bengal’s biggest festival.
Large areas of Kolaghat, Panskura, Radhamohanpur and Khirai in East and West Midnapore districts are still under water destroying plants in regions that are known as the biggest flower growing areas of the state.Lotus, marigold, tuberose, jasmine, balsam, rose and sunflower grown in this region are needed in Durga Puja.
Farmers rue that while the majority of the flowers have been damaged in the flood and the fields are still under water, the ones they were able to pluck and put in cold storage may also not be fit enough for usage two weeks later. What is more tricky is the fact that there is no time to grow new plants that can produce fresh flowers. Durga Puja starts from Oct 8 (Sasthi).
According to the traders’ association, flowers that are still reaching the Kolkata market are from Ranaghat and some parts of Howrah and Burdwan which have not been affected by the flood yet.
In Debra block’s Radhamohanpur, Dua, Jalibanda, Pradima, Shyamchak, Mirzangar, Nachipur, Chaksujal, Kharagpur Rural’s Madpur, Shyamchak, Daspur’s Jyotghanshyam, Shibra, Rajnagar, Khurda areas, roses, tuberoses, marigolds, balsams, and hibiscus flowers are cultivated.
Dua’s tuberose farmer Deepak Baram said, “Half of the plants on my 2.5 bigha land have been destroyed, and the remaining plants are not blooming. It’s the same for marigold plants. There are about 200 farmers in this area. We are spending Rs 5,000-7,000 on high-quality chemicals to save the plants, but we are unsure how effective it will be.”
District horticulture officer Mou Roy said, “Due to the rain and floodwater, agricultural and flower fields have gone under water. An assessment is going on, and the report will be sent to the state govt once completed.”
Narayan Chandra Nayek, general secretary of the All Bengal Flower Growers and Flower Traders’ Association, said about 50% of the plants have been destroyed due to waterlogging. “We will have to import from other states, and prices are likely to increase,” he said.
“Midnapore contributes around 90% of the state’s flower supply. Flowers like lotus can still be stored in cold storage for a longer period but the same cannot be applied for the other flowers. There was good production of lotus this year and that is the reason we didn’t pick them up in abundance like other years. But the flood played spoilsport,” said Gopal Mondal, a flower trader at Ramnagar in East Midnapore.
Mondal added that lotus is now being sold at Rs 20 to Rs 30 depending on the flower size.