XELDEM, May 14 -- GAURESH SATTARKAR

Farmers in the Xeldem area are lamenting over their losses as water from the Salaulim dam earmarked for irrigation has failed to reach their fields. The adverse weather conditions and poor water management has only added more miseries to the ryots here.

Though the region is connected by a 3.5 km Curchorem branch canal, the flow of water is extremely slow, leaving farmlands dry and unfit for cultivation. As a result, crops have withered and newly sown seeds have either been scorched with the summer heat or feasted upon by rodents and birds.

One of the most affected farmers, Sanjay Gawas Desai, has reported a loss of nearly Rs 15 lakh. He had taken 20 acres of Devashthan land on lease for Rs 2 lakh and...