Fruit-setting hit hard by dust: Kotgarh plum growers

Tribune News Service

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, April 1

The plum growers of the Kotgarh region in Shimla district are claiming that fruit-setting this year has been merely around 15 per cent of the normal setting. According to them, the dust emanating from the SJVN’s under-construction Luhri hydroelectric power project at Neerath and several private stone-crushers operating in the area could be the reason for the poor fruit-setting. “The dust settles in pollen tubes and the pollination process is hindered. As a result, the fruit-setting is affected adversely,” said Deepak Singha, president of the Plum Growers Association.

To substantiate his claim that poor fruit-setting could be due to excessive dust during the bloom period, Singha said that the average plum production in the state would be around 70 per cent. “In the Kotgarh area around the project, production will be just about 15 per cent,” he said.

The residents of three-four panchayats in the vicinity of the project and crushers largely depend on the fruit for their livelihood. The growers have approached the Pollution Control Board and the University of Horticulture and Forestry for a detailed study to find out the impact of dust on the quality and yield of the fruit.

“The project is going to take many more years to complete. If production is going to be affected so much, the growers will be ruined. So, we have approached the Pollution Control Board and the Nauni university and the Department of Horticulture, Nauni, for a detailed study on dust in the area and its impact on the fruit production,” said Singha. “If it is established that production has gone down due to the dust coming from the project and stone crushers, the farmers should be compensated accordingly,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sunil Chaudhary, head of the Luhri Hydroelectric Power Project, said that the committee under the SDM was already in place to assess the damage caused in the ‘affected area’ due to the project. “The company compensates affected people as per the recommendation of the committee and the notified guidelines by the government,” he added.

Chaudhary said that the company took care to avoid dumping close-by during the bloom period on the request of the people. “I don’t think the project is having such an adverse effect on plum production,” he added.

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