Agartala, Dec 7: Farmers along the India–Bangladesh border under Kathalia block alleged that high-power LED floodlights installed near the barbed wire fence have severely damaged their Aman paddy crops this season.
The farmers said the powerful lights, fixed about 30 feet high and kept on throughout the night, caused the paddy plants to dry up without producing grain, resulting in total crop loss.
They also alleged that a newly laid ground-level barbed wire inside Indian territory has caused injuries to farm labourers during cultivation work.
Affected farmers, including Rahim Miah, Shailen Sarkar, Haradhan De and Narayan Majumdar, said they had invested heavily in farming but received no yield. They claimed that earlier low-power lights never caused such damage.
The farmers said BSF personnel expressed their inability to act, while local representatives offered only assurances. They urged the state Agriculture Minister to intervene immediately, warning that border farmlands may turn fallow if the issue continues.
