Villages with 75% crop damage to be surveyed within 7 days: Ajnala MLA

Ajnala MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, patwaris will prepare reports for compensation within seven days for villages where more than 75 per cent crop damage has been reported and within 14 days for villages with less than 75 per cent damage.

Stating that no negligence will be tolerated in these reports, he led a cleanliness drive in flood-affected outer villages of Ajnala city, including Nangal, Vanjhawanwala, Chak Phoola and Kamirpur, besides visiting government schools today.

At village Chak Phoola, while inspecting damaged crops, Dhaliwal drove a combine in the fields of farmer Sukhchain Singh Gill to take stock of the damaged paddy crop. He listened to the problems of flood-affected farmers and other people and resolved several issues on the spot.

Later talking to journalists, Dhaliwal said in order to provide timely compensation for crops damaged due to the floods, a girdawari (crop damage survey) has already started from September 13 in around 100 affected villages of Ajnala constituency and nearly 2,400 villages across Punjab. Patwaris of the Revenue Department have begun their official duties in these villages.

Once the patwaris submit reports within the stipulated time, kanungoes will visit 25 villages daily to verify the correctness of the reports. Meanwhile, tehsildars, SDMs, and the Deputy Commissioner will also cross-check and supervise these reports at their levels. For the girdawari in Ajnala constituency, 25 patwaris have been deployed and 196 deputed across the district.

He said in the 100 flood-hit villages of Ajnala and nearly 2,400 villages across Punjab, the administration is also receiving active cooperation from social service organisations to tackle issues like silt, sand and other sanitation problems caused by floodwater.

He said cleaning work will be completed within 10 days with the help of these organisations.

Dhaliwal said so far, no epidemic outbreak has been reported in the flood-hit villages, but initial signs of eye and skin infections have appeared. In a survey conducted by the district health administration covering nearly 100,000 people in the affected villages, around 3,000 people were found suffering from eye and skin diseases.