Owner of 28 acres lives in penury
From Chander Parkash
Tribune News Service

FATTA BALU (Bathinda), Oct 10 — Mr Jarnail Singh, a former sarpanch of the village, owns 28 acres. Yet he has been keeping his kitchen fire burning with the help of relatives and friends as water logging has rendered his land unfit for cultivation for the past five years.

Another farmer, Mr Harnek Singh has been earning his living by tilling another man's land.

Farmers of Golewala, Kalal Wala, Raiya, Kouriana, Nateha and this village are finding it hard to make both ends meet as their land has become unfit for cultivation due to water logging.

During a tour of these villages, farmers told TNS that every year there was a flood-like situation during the rainy season. There was no provision for draining out water and most villages were low lying.

They alleged that despite repeated requests successive state governments had not bothered to dig a drain to solve the problem. In all these villages 2000 acres of land has been badly affected. The remaining land is yielding only one crop a year.

Due to water logging, the paddy crop is still submerged in water. In some pockets, the crop has begun to decay.

According to information gathered by TNS the area gets water-logged due to seepage from the adjoining Bhakra mainline canal. The area has been ravaged by floods thrice in the past decade.

In Nateha village the buildings of primary school, veterinary hospital, civil dispensary, panchayat ghar, water works, a 25-bed hospital and 100 acres of land are under knee-deep water.

Mr S.R. Ladhar, Deputy Commissioner, who recently toured the area and heard the grievances of the people, when contacted, said a lift scheme had been started in Nateha village to drain out water from the low-lying areas. He said Rs 10 lakh would be spent on the scheme.

About 250 acres of land had been identified as severely water-logged and unfit for cultivation. A sum of Rs 12 lakh had been demanded from the state government as compensation for the affected farmers.

He said he had held talks with the Deputy Commissioner, Sirsa (Haryana), for digging a drain from these villages towards Haryana territory as the natural flow of water was in that direction.

Meanwhile, Mr Harminder Singh Jassi, chief whip of Congress in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, talking to TNS, alleged that the Punjab Government led by Mr Parkash Singh Badal had been giving a step-motherly treatment to the Talwandi Sabo assembly segment, in which these villages fell, as he had defeated the Akali candidate from this constituency.

He said more than Rs 70 crore had been spent for removing water logging in Muktsar district. On the other hand, not a penny had been spent on this area, he alleged.

He said he would raise the matter in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in the next session and press the government for necessary measures to mitigate the sufferings of the affected farmers.