Constructions at the mango orchard in Digha. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, June 10: The recent victim of development is the juicy dudhiya Malda mango.

Famous all over the state and outside, the dudhiya Malda mangoes are the speciality of the orchards of Digha. The orchard, which once had at least 10,000 dudhiya Malda trees, is now left with only 600 now. The mango farmers of Digha are now faced with huge loss because of the felling of the trees in the past decade for developing buildings.

Anil Rai, a mango farmer in the Digha orchards, has been in the business for at least two decades now. He said: “Cutting down trees and development of buildings have affected the cultivation of Malda mangoes. I have been growing and selling the dudhiya Malda mangoes for the past 20 years and I don’t think that in the next five years a single dudhiya Malda mango tree will be left here.”

The speciality of these Digha mangoes is clear for all to see — once you scratch the mango skin, a milk-like liquid oozes out, giving it the name dudhiya.

The Telegraph visited the spot to find houses being constructed in the middle of the orchard. The number of farmers involved in selling the dudhiya Malda mangoes has also diminished.

On the reason behind selling the land for construction, Anil said: “I don’t know the exact reason but maybe selling the land is more profitable than growing mangoes these days. The land has become very expensive now — one cottah sells between Rs 14 lakh and Rs 16 lakh depending on the locality.”

Ashrafi Mahto, another mango farmer, said: “There was a time when the dudhiya Malda mango trees were spread over nearly 4km from Nasriganj to Mithla Colony. Now, it’s not even a half kilometre. The value of land here has increased so much that the value of mangoes has decreased for us. Earlier we used to sell dudhiya Malda mangoes for Rs 100 per kg. Now, we sell them at just Rs 60 per kg.”

Another farmer, Avadesh Singh, said: “People think the mangoes they get in the markets are from Digha but that’s not the case. The few dudhiya Malda mangoes grown here are purchased by the influential, who send them to their children studying abroad. Some also send the mangoes to other cities, as there is a demand for them all over the country.”

He added: “The mangoes which are available in the market now is surely not from Digha. They are being sold at Rs 40 per kg. Here, we are selling the mangoes at Rs 60 per kg. The present lot of mangoes are coming from Bhagalpur and other parts of the state. The real sign of a Digha mango is if you scratch the skin, a milky liquid oozes out.”

Residents, meanwhile, are unhappy for missing out on their favourite mangoes because of rising buildings.

Shailendra Gupta, a resident of Digha, said: “I am not getting the real Digha dudhiya Malda mangoes, as the city’s famous mangoes are not here because of trees being felled and buildings are coming up all over the place. I am left buying the mangoes that come from outside the city.”