Dust from highway construction damaging horticultural crops

Koppal: Farmers in Koppal district are facing significant losses due to dust from highway construction activities. Horticultural crops, particularly lemons and pomegranates, worth lakhs of rupees, are being severely damaged. Despite repeated complaints to the Pollution Control Board and the District Collector, the farmers have yet to receive any relief.

As summer approaches, lemon prices are soaring, with one lemon fetching as much as two rupees. However, in many areas of Koppal district, the dust from construction activities is causing lemons to fall off the trees prematurely, ruining the harvest. Thousands of lemons are spoiling in the fields, leaving farmers with no option but to watch their crops wither away.

In Kandakur village, located in Kushtagi taluk, the situation is even more dire. Farmers here are battling not only dust but also economic hardship. The dust, emanating from a nearby construction site operated by Oriental Structural Engineering Pvt. Ltd., is settling on crops, damaging them beyond repair. The company, contracted for the repair of the national highway, mixes gravel, asphalt, and M sand for construction, and the dust created in the process is wreaking havoc on the surrounding agricultural land.

Farmers in the area are particularly concerned about the impact of dust on their pomegranate crops. While many have abandoned pomegranate cultivation altogether due to these challenges, those who have invested in the crop are facing significant financial losses. Blossoms that once showed promise are now failing to bear fruit, and the harvest has been ruined by excessive dust.

This ongoing issue has persisted for over a decade, with no resolution in sight. Farmers have made multiple appeals to the construction unit to control the dust emissions, but their complaints have been met with inaction. In desperation, they have turned to the Pollution Control Board, District Collector, and local authorities, but so far, no measures have been implemented to mitigate the situation.