Farmland in UP's Gautam Budh Nagar sinks after downpour

New Delhi : More than 10 acres of agricultural land, on which paddy was sown, sank in Surajpur village in Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, on Friday following a downpour. Farmers said they had suffered losses running into lakhs.

The affected farmers complained that no official had visited them till Friday evening to assess the damage or find the cause of the sinking of vast tracts of land after heavy rains.

Mohan Lal, who was among the affected farmers, said they were shocked to find that parts of their agricultural land had sunk between two and three feet, and even more at certain places, when they visited their fields in the morning. He said his two acres were affected.

"It was all fine till Thursday evening. When we went to see our paddy this morning, we were shocked to see what had happened," Mohan told IANS.

"We complained about the situation to the patwari (revenue official) and he assured us he will pay a visit. However, we are waiting for him since morning but he is nowhere to be seen," the farmer complained.

Even the brick-lined approach road that connected the village to the farmland was damaged due to sinking of the earth below. An electricity pole bore the brunt of the cave-in.

"We were not receiving electricity for the last 3-4 days. When we contacted the electricity department officials, they said power supply will resume when rains stop. Now, since the pole too has fallen to the ground, the supply line has been disconnected," he said.

The area has recorded heavy rainfall since Thursday, which the villagers said had caused the land cave-in.

A road in Ghaziabad's Vasundhara area too caved in on Thursday after heavy rain. Several residents were asked to evacuate.