Farmers' union protests, demands Rs 25K-cr relief

Members of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) held a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office on Wednesday and raised demands to help farmers battling with the aftermath of the floods in the state. They urged the government to fulfil all their demands or they would intensify their agitation.

SKM leaders said the state’s people had suffered a lot due to the rains and floods that started in the last week of August. About 59 people had lost their lives, houses had collapsed or been damaged, livestock been swept away, land and rivers had become muddy, fields filled with silt and crops had been destroyed, said protesters adding that in such circumstances, although farmer and social organisations had tried to reach out to flood victims, it was the responsibility of the state and Central governments to make arrangements for flood prevention, rehabilitation and compensation. The government should immediately fulfill farmer’s demands to bring their lives back on track.

They asserted that these floods were not natural calamities but a disaster caused by human negligence. The Punjab Government, Central Government and the Bhakra Beas Management Board were mainly responsible for the disaster, they added. Despite the forecast of heavy rains, there was a gross negligence in carrying out usual inspections, cleaning and repairs. Water was not released from dams in a proper manner while there still was time. When the dams filled to the brim, water was released suddenly. Due to this negligence, three gates of Madhopur Road were broken due to lakhs of cusecs of water having been released from the Ranjit Sagar Dam. A judicial inquiry should be conducted under the leadership of a sitting judge of the Supreme Court to identify the people responsible for such administrative lapses and the culprits should be given strict punishment, said the members.

They also demanded that the Centre consider the floods in Punjab a natural disaster and provide a special financial package of Rs 25,000 crore for the reconstruction of infrastructure and for the prevention of future damage. To meet the future challenges of floods and other natural disasters and to provide relief to the people, a natural disaster fund should be established by imposing special taxes on big capitalists/corporate houses and spent in the affected areas. Even necessary technical improvements should be made in the process of releasing water from dams to ensure at least a certain amount of water flows in the rivers throughout the year.

Leaders alleged that illegal mining on river banks should be stopped. Rivers, canals and drains should be cleaned. Necessary steps should be taken to prevent siltation in the rivers and proper arrangements should be made for smooth drainage of water by maintaining the natural drainage channels. Even the embankments of the rivers should be strengthened using modern methods after taking opinion of technical experts. Places where the embankments often break should be specially marked and strong embankments should be constructed, said they.