Jalandhar: Year on, flood memories still haunt Lohian farmers
Aakanksha N Bhardwaj
Jalandhar, June 22
A year ago, lives of villagers living in Lohian turned upside down when floods wreaked havoc. Paddy on thousands of acres of land was washed away when a breach took place in the Dhussi Bundh. Not that they have recovered fully from the setback, fear has again come back to haunt them a year later.
Paddy sowing has started in villages, but farmers are worried about the recurrence of floods. If it happens, their lives will be ruined and they will be unable to bear the loss for the second consecutive year.
Last year, crops were damaged, houses ravaged and fields remained inundated making farmers suffer a huge loss. Some of the farmers could not even sow wheat and it was for the first time that spring maize was sowed here.
This was the fate of some farmers living in low-lying areas like Dhakka Basti and Gatta Mundi Kasu of Lohian. Strangely, wheat was not sown on around 100 acres. These farmers could not even prepare their fields for wheat because sand and silt had accumulated. It was only two months back that cultivation seemed feasible. So, the farmers sowed spring maize, that too with the help of an organisation, Khalsa Aid, which provided free seeds to the farmers.
Sarabjit Singh, a farmer, said though paddy transplantation had started in some areas, fear of floods was also there. “Only we know what we are going through now. We do not know what will happen as nothing has been done by the government until now,” he said.
Worried about recurrence of deluge
Paddy sowing has started in villages, but farmers are worried about the recurrence of floods. If it happens, their lives will be ruined and they will be unable to bear the loss for the second consecutive year.
Suffered huge losses last year
Last year, crops were damaged, houses ravaged and fields remained inundated making farmers suffer huge losses. Some of the farmers could not even sow wheat and it was for the first time that spring maize was sowed here.
