Four months on, rain-hit await relief in Muktsar

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, December 25

Four months after rains caused havoc in Muktsar district, the state government is yet to release compensation to those who were affected.

A large number of houses had collapsed and crops had been damaged due to rains, following which Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had ordered a ‘girdawari’ to asses the damages. However, first the ‘girdawari’ process consumed a lot of time and now the authorities concerned are showing “reluctance” in approving the amount sought by the district administration for this purpose.

The district administration had sought about Rs 28 crore from the Financial Commissioner on December 12, but nothing has been done to date.

The report stated that Rs 22.80 crore had been sought for the loss of crops, Rs 33.63 lakh for houses and Rs 3.26 lakh for livestock.

The maximum losses have been reported in Malout sub-division, where the compensation sought against damage to crops is over Rs 17.29 crore.

The total area affected across the district has been measured as 46,050 acres.

A resident of Panniwala Fatta village, whose single-room house had collapsed during rains said, “It’s high time that the authorities give the compensation amount to the rain-affected people. Last year, the process of disbursal of compensation amount had started much earlier. Senior officers or the Chief Minister himself should intervene so that there is no further delay.”

A senior officer in the district administration said that they too were waiting for the funds so that compensation could be disbursed.

Moreover, farmers whose land has turned infertile due to waterlogging are also yet to get the compensation of the last three cropping seasons. The government has announced to give Rs 3,000 per acre per cropping season to those farmers who are unable to sow crops on their waterlogging-affected land.

The district administration has sought an amount of Rs 6.04 crore for this purpose.