Floods wash away veggie growers’ dreams

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, August 17

Pappu, a vegetable grower living in Mand Ibrahimwal village near Nadala in Kapurthala, was ready to harvest bottle gourd in a few days and he was already excited about the good returns. However, flood waters took away everything, including happy days, which he had envisaged. He left his home and is now living on the roadside with his family after inundation of water.

“Gaadiya bharke jaani thi, lekin pehle hi paani a agaya (Had the flood water not ravaged everything, vehicles carrying bottle gourds would be going to the mandis and we would be happy for the next two months,” he said.

Originally from UP, growers, who have been living in Mand Ibrahimwal, Dhilwan, etc., are a distraught lot. They have moved to safer places after leaving their abodes. They have been living here for decades and doing cucurbit farming. Pappu had sown bottle gourd, pumpkin and radish on around 10 acres.

Munna, another farmer, who is here for the past 20 years, said: “I had also cultivated ladyfinger, pumpkin and bottle gourd on eight acres. We have never experienced something like this before. We hope that our crop gets recovered”.

Kasim from Batala village in Dhilwan had sown Pumpkin on three acres. “Right now, we do not know what to do. The priority is to save lives. We can only see water all around, and nothing else,” he said.

Horticulture Development Officer Harvinder Singh said an assessment would be made now. “We will check what losses these farmers have suffered and get an update on the actual status in the village,” he said.

Orchards also hit

Fruit grower Nirmal Singh from Mand Dhilwan village had grown guava on two acres and pear on three acres in his orchard. “Guava has got ruined, but there is still a possibility that pear would be safe if water doesn’t come again,” he said. In Nangal Lubana village too, the loss has been reported in an orchard by the Horticulture Department.

Never experienced this before: farmer

Munna, another farmer, who is here for the past 20 years, said: “I had also cultivated ladyfinger, pumpkin and bottle gourd on eight acres. We have never experienced something like this before. We hope that our crop gets recovered”.

Move to safer places

Growers, who have been living in Mand Ibrahimwal, Dhilwan, etc., have moved to safer places after leaving their abodes. They have been living here for decades and doing cucurbit farming. Pappu had sown bottle gourd, pumpkin and radish on around 10 acres.