4 acres of paddy ploughed by dept

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 17

Continuing its action against erring farmers who were sowing paddy by violating the directions of the Punjab Government, the Agriculture Department on Sunday ploughed 4 acres of paddy sown in the district under the “Tandarust Punjab” mission to check the depleting water table.

Deputy Commissioner (DC), Jalandhar, Varinder Kumar Sharma, said the action was taken by the department in Bhatian village and Chak Sakur of Bhogpur block. He said in Bhatian, a farmer, identified as Sarbjit Singh, had defied the orders of the government by planting paddy before June 20.

Likewise, at Chak Sakur village, farmers Pal Singh and Guljar Singh had violated the orders of the state government.

Therefore, the DC said that acting strictly, agriculture officer Gurbhagat Singh ploughed 1.5 acres of field of Sarbjit and an acre each of Pal Singh and Guljar as per the provisions of the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009, for transplanting paddy, ahead of the official date ie June 20.

The DC said stern action would be taken against all farmers who defied the orders of the state government and transplanted paddy before June 20.

He said water crisis was looming large, as water extraction from the ground was more than its recharge, due to which this action had been necessitated.

Chief Agriculture Officer Dr BS Cheena said the department would not allow any transplantation of paddy to take place before June 20. He said machinery of the government was maintaining a vigil on the entire situation and no farmer would be allowed to violate the directives of the state government.