Bhupinder Hooda for solution to waterlogging in fields

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 28

Former CM and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda today demanded an immediate solution to the problem of waterlogging in fields.

Hooda said farmers in many areas of the state, including Kaithal, Hisar, Bhiwani, Ambala, Sirsa, Rohtak, Jind, Sonipat, Kurukshetra, Karnal and Fatehabad have been hit by the problem of waterlogging.

"Thousands of acres of farmers' crops have been submerged. More than a week has gone by but the government has not taken any steps for draining out the water from the fields. Due to the rains in the past few days, thousands of acres of paddy, cotton and jowar crops have been severely damaged. Heavy rains have been forecast in the coming days. In such a situation, the farmers fear that this problem may amplify in the coming days," Hooda said.

Hooda expressed fears that a large part of the farmer's crop would get waterlogged due to the weather and neglect of the government, if the situation continued and the government did not take any immediate steps to bring relief to the farmers. "This will have a major impact on the production of crops, including paddy, cotton, sugarcane and jowar. This is going to add to the problems of the farmers who are already facing huge losses," he said.

He said the government should immediately get the girdawari done and give compensation to the farmers. He said proper drainage system should be built at the earliest so that the farmers can be saved from further losses.

"Data that came out in the public domain recently showed that insurance companies have made a hefty profit of Rs 40,000 crores in just 5 years when the farmers are constantly facing losses. To make matters worse, the government has also increased the insurance premium for many crops. The premium amount per acre for paddy has been increased from Rs 713.99 to Rs 749.69, for cotton from Rs 1731.50 to Rs 1819.12, for Bajra from Rs 335.99 to Rs 352.79 and for Maize from Rs 356.99 to Rs 374.85. Every season the premium is deducted from the farmer's account without his consent, but neither the government nor the company come forward to give the compensation," he stated.

Hooda said the committee on agriculture in the Congress Navsankalp Manthan Shivir at Udaipur had also mentioned the crop insurance scheme and its recommendations. The committee formed under Hooda's leadership had recommended that the government should take up the work of crop insurance.

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