14 Karnal villages submerged

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, July 30

With the Yamuna flowing above the danger mark in the district, 14 villages situated along the river are submerged.

Farmers are the worst hit. Hundreds of acres of paddy, sugarcane, maize and vegetables are waterlogged. And there is no fodder for the livestock. They demand compensation as well as fodder from the state government.

Farmers say they face the problem of floods every year, but the administration does nothing.

“I cultivated paddy in one acre. The crop is submerged under five-ft water. Paddy sown on one acre is the only source of my income,” said Raja Ram, a farmer from the district’s Randoli village.

Another farmer Kala Ram, who has cultivated paddy and vegetables on six acres taken on lease, said the floods had led to a huge loss to him and other farmers.

Bee-keeping farmers are no better. Mahinder of Chaura village alleged about 500 bee boxes with honey were washed away, resulting in a loss of more than Rs11 lakh to him. He demanded compensation from the state government.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, meanwhile, on Sunday conducted an aerial survey of flood-hit villages, including Chogama, Sayeed Chapra, Halwana, Kamalpur Gadrian, Tartarpur, Kalsora, Randoli, Nabiabad, Garhpur Tapu, Dabkili Kalan, Kunda Kalan bridge, Japti Chapra, Chandrav and Nangal.

Kamalpur Gadrian, Japti Chapra, Nagli, Sayeed Chapra and Halwani villages are cut off from Randoli village which connects other villages to the main road leading to the district headquarters. Even the cremation ground of Randoli village is submerged under three-ft water.

The bridge that connects Shergarh Tapu to other villages is also submerged. The administration has deployed boats at several places for people to commutate. The situation is similar in Kundakalan and other villages.

“We have deployed boats at Randoli and other places for villagers to commute,” said Isha Kamboj, SDM, Indri. Deputy Commissioner Aditya Dahiya said fields were still flooded, but residential areas were safe.

Two units of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) had been deployed at the Baiana police post and Nabiabad, the DC said.