Beed: Standing sugarcane spread across 13 acres was reduced to ashes in two separate fire incidents in Parli Vaijnath tehsil on Monday, dealing a major financial blow to farmers whose crops were ready for harvest.
The fires, reported from the Sirsala and Nagapur areas, were allegedly triggered by electrical sparking and a short circuit involving power infrastructure. The incidents have sparked anger among farmers who spent an entire year nurturing their crops, only to see them destroyed days before harvesting.
In the Pimpri and Govardhan areas near the canal in Sirsala village, a wire connected to a distribution transformer reportedly snapped following a short circuit and fell into the fields, triggering a fire that destroyed nine acres of sugarcane.
Five acres belonging to five brothers from Pimpri — Shankar Dhanu Rathod, Vaman Dhanu Rathod, Papa Dhanu Rathod, Bali Dhanu Rathod and Dattatraya Dhanu Rathod — were destroyed in the blaze.
The fire also gutted two acres of sugarcane belonging to Sudam Mane and another two acres belonging to Arvind Prakash More in the Govardhan area.
The destruction has left the affected farmers facing substantial losses, particularly as their crops were on the verge of harvest.
In another incident, four acres of standing sugarcane were gutted in Nagapur village in Parli tehsil on October 10 after sparking was reportedly observed at an electricity pole. Farmer Arvind Sudhakar Aghav, whose land falls under survey group number 372, suffered extensive crop losses.
According to locals, this was the third incident of sugarcane being destroyed by fire in the area within eight days.
The repeated incidents have sparked resentment among farmers, who have raised concerns about the maintenance of electricity infrastructure by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL).
With their crops destroyed just before harvest, the affected farmers face mounting financial uncertainty. The incidents have also renewed concerns over the risks posed by electrical faults to standing crops, particularly during the harvesting season.
