Disaster struck Los Iros when massive earth shifts ripped apart farmland and left 35 farmers trapped without access to their crops. Giant cracks split open roads and destroyed agricultural areas along Royal Engineering Road. The ground keeps moving and experts fear things will become much worse as fault lines continue shifting beneath the community. Farmers cannot reach the popular mud volcano site because vehicles cannot pass through the dangerous terrain. Local growers woke up Friday morning to find their livelihoods completely ruined.
Ishwar Bholai lost access to more than 18,700 tomato, hot pepper and pimento plants when cracks tore straight through his fields. The farmer believes oil exploration work from years past caused the earth to become unstable. Kishore Ragoobar paid someone 200 dollars just to carry one bag of eggplant because walking became nearly impossible across the shifted landscape. Two ponds belonging to Ragoobar were completely destroyed and falling trees wiped out several crops. Sunil Balsingh watched 40 years of farming experience disappear when his eggplant field split apart and both his ponds collapsed.
Geologist Xavier Moonan and expert Gavin Elsley examined the damage and discovered huge fault line movements had shifted one road section more than 50 feet from its original position. Heavy rains made the saturated ground even more unstable and created perfect conditions for additional landslides. The scientists explained that fault movements were causing the destruction rather than mud volcano activity. Agriculture Minister Saddam Hosein and local representative Clyde Elder visited the devastated area to see the damage firsthand. Both officials promised government assistance for the affected farming families.
Ishwar Bholai lost access to more than 18,700 tomato, hot pepper and pimento plants when cracks tore straight through his fields. The farmer believes oil exploration work from years past caused the earth to become unstable. Kishore Ragoobar paid someone 200 dollars just to carry one bag of eggplant because walking became nearly impossible across the shifted landscape. Two ponds belonging to Ragoobar were completely destroyed and falling trees wiped out several crops. Sunil Balsingh watched 40 years of farming experience disappear when his eggplant field split apart and both his ponds collapsed.
Geologist Xavier Moonan and expert Gavin Elsley examined the damage and discovered huge fault line movements had shifted one road section more than 50 feet from its original position. Heavy rains made the saturated ground even more unstable and created perfect conditions for additional landslides. The scientists explained that fault movements were causing the destruction rather than mud volcano activity. Agriculture Minister Saddam Hosein and local representative Clyde Elder visited the devastated area to see the damage firsthand. Both officials promised government assistance for the affected farming families.
