Heavy rain throws life out of gear in city; causes damage to crops

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 8

The city was lashed by heavy rain accompanied by high-velocity winds on Friday. It also rained till this evening, throwing life out of gear. The day temperature dipped to 12 degrees Celsius. It was fifth consecutive day of rain in the city. Heavy rain during the last 24 hours led to water accumulation on the city roads.

It took several hours for rainwater to drain in Heritage Street and other old city areas. Several low-lying areas were also water-logged. Rainwater entered some houses due to choking of sewer lines. Water-logging on roads resulted in heavy traffic jam as vehicles moved at a snail’s pace. Residents witnessed rain for five consecutive days in winter after a long time.

The weatherman has forecast cloudy sky for the next 72 hours. There are also chances of moderate and heavy rain in isolated areas. However, moderate rain is beneficial for crops, especially wheat, but heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds damaged crops, especially vegetable.

According to agriculture experts, water-logging in wheat fields will change the colour of leaves. “I had irrigated the crop on Monday. Last night my fields turned into a pond. With the colour loss the wheat plants would turn yellowish and we have to spray urea fertiliser on the crop. It would lead to increased cultivation costs for farmers,” said Gurjit Singh, a farmer from Khankot.

Vegetables growers were also worried about the potato and carrot crops. With the accumulation of rainwater in fields, the root vegetables had been affected. Other vegetables such as peas, tomato and brinjal were in flower. Heavy rain also affected these crops.

Tarn Taran sees highest winter rainfall in 20 yrs

Heavy rain, which started on Friday night, continued to lash different parts of the district till this afternoon. Besides, strong winds kept blowing through the day.

Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) Jagwinder Singh said in Khadoor Sahib subdivision, 25mm rain was recorded followed by 49mm in Tarn Taran and 56mm in Patti subdivision. The district witnessed highest winter rainfall in the last 20 years.

The CAO claimed that there was no report of loss of crops in the district. According to the reports collected from different parts of the district, rainwater got accumulated in the fields as it rained, though intermittently, continously for the last five days and on Friday night, it poured.

In some border area villages, trees were uprooted. On the Tarn Taran-Patti road near Lauhuka village, a tree fell on the road blocking traffic for some time. As there was no provision of rainwater drainage in all the villages, water got accumulated and the residents had to face great difficulty in reaching their destinations.

Gurdial Singh Verowal, a vegetable grower, said the vegetable crops were submerged and it was not possible to harvest potato and peas. It can cause a loss to the growers. A number of families of Manochahal Kalan, Rasulpur and other villages said the roof of their mud houses had started leaking, creating problems for them.