Complete girdawari by August 15, minister tells Revenue Dept

Amritsar, July 30

While stating that the state government would compensate the farmers whose lands have been submerged by the flooded rivers (darya-burd), Ajnala MLA and Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal instructed the revenue department officials to complete the assessment of loss (girdawari) within the next 15 days.

The minister said that the state government has ordered a girdawari and it would be completed before August 15. He said that while in certain cases, the flood water has caused damage to standing crops, in others the upper layer of the agricultural fields has been completely washed away. The flooding caused by the rivers has also deposited sand and silt in the agricultural fields which would have to be cleared before cultivating crops.

Dhaliwal said that in Punjab, the agricultural fields alongside the rivers, Ravi, Sutlej and Ghaggar, have been completely washed away. The state government has decided to pay compensation to farmers whose lands have been taken by the rivers, he said.

The minister also visited Roorhewal, Ghamrah and Panjgraen villages alongside the Ravi river in Ajnala area where hundreds of acres of land alongside the river bank has gone ‘darya-burd’.

He said that the compensation amount would be released after a proper assessment of the loss incurred by farmers. He said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has also taken up the issue of loss incurred by the farmers with the Central government because it is the Centre that controls the rivers and it is also its duty to help the state governments in times of a natural calamity.