By Leiselle Maraj Monday, August 24 2009

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FLOODED: Aranjuez farmer Deodath Basdeo stands in several feet of water in his melongene fields, after heavy rains, yesterday....

Thousands of dollars in crops were destroyed yesterday when heavy rains flooded several acres of cultivated land along the East-West corridor.

Water from the Caroni River overflowed into farm lands located in Orange Grove, Trincity, leaving an access road impassable and crops covered in water.

When Newsday visited the area yesterday, farmers already left the area. One farmer, Mahadeo Pardooman, was contacted on the telephone and he confirmed the damage caused by flood waters.

“The land is underwater. It overflow into my two acres of land and destroyed the cucumber and squash crops I had planted there. I also have some baigan (melongene) growing on the land but I don’t know how much of that crop was destroyed,” he said. Pardooman said he would not be able to ascertain the damages until today when the water is expected to flow off the land.

He reported that the flood water was at least 16 inches high and more in some areas. Further along in the Aranjuez area, heavy rainfall resulted in flooded melongene and ochro fields belonging to farmer, Deodath Basdeo.

“The water was running in the baigan fields at 90 miles an hour,” he told Newsday yesterday afternoon.

He added that this is not the first time for the rainy season that his fields were flooded and as recently as last week Monday and Thursday, his crops were affected by flood waters.

He said the melongene crops at his garden, which is less than one acre, located at the end of Johnny King Road, Aranguez, have already cost $8,000 to plant and maintain.

Ochro plants, which the farmer also grew on the piece of land, were underwater, but he was unsure whether they survived or not.

Losses which occurred during the week, Basdeo said, were already reported to the Agriculture Ministry but the farmer has little hope for proper compensation. “They do not come to see the damage until months after and if they do decide to give us something in compensation, it is usually not enough to buy seeds and what is needed to replace what was lost,” he said.

Another farmer from Aranjuez, Sahadeo Babwa, said although his crops were not completely destroyed, flood waters usually remain on the land for hours. “The water does not run off immediately because the drains and the ravine are full with water.