Assessment pegs crop loss on 5K acres in dist

Amritsar, August 7

The ongoing assessment of the loss due to floods has revealed that crops on over 5,000 acres have been destroyed in Amritsar district. In Tarn Taran district, crops on 35,315 acres have been damaged.

In Amritsar district, a maximum loss of 4,000 acres has been reported from the Ajnala belt alone where water of the Ravi river entered agricultural fields.

Officials said in Tarn Taran district, paddy, basmati and other crops on 31,000 acres alongside the confluence of the Sutlej and Beas rivers were flooded. The state government had earlier ordered a special girdawari to assess the crop loss caused by floods last month. It is expected that the area damaged by the floods would further increase as the assessment is still in progress.

Jatinder Singh Gill, Chief Agriculture Officer, Amritsar, said, “The agriculture minister has issued instructions regarding completion of girdawari before August 15 so that the process of releasing money to affected farmers can be initiated.”

Apart from damaging standing crops, the fields are full of sand and silt brought by the floods. The farmers said they would have to clear sand and silt from fields to make the land cultivable again.

Maximum damage has been caused in agricultural fields downstream of the Harike headworks. In many cases sand brought by the floodwater has increased the level of the land by over a foot.

The farmers said in Tarn Taran district, maximum crop loss was in the Mand area alongside the river heading from Muthianwala to Bhalojla villages.

Apart from crop loss, the farmers feared that their tubewells had also been damaged as sand might have entered bores.