Wheat crop gutted in 56 acres in Ludhiana village

Lovleen Bains

Doraha, April 17

A total of 108 acres of land, including 56 acres of standing wheat crop and 52 acres of stubble in villages Gidri, Bilaspur and Lapran, was destroyed in a major fire that broke out last evening. Short circuit was reported to be the reason behind the fire.

The crop of villagers, including Nirmal Singh, Jagtar Singh, Jagtar Singh Jaggi, Kamaldeep Singh, Soni, Narinderpal Singh, Kulwant Singh and Darshan Singh, were reduced to ashes after a short circuit in a nearby electricity transformer led to the fire.

Fire brigades could reach the spot only after the flames had already been doused with the collective effort of villagers. Deepak Prabhakar, the driver of the fire brigade, said the villagers had already controlled the fire when reached the spot.

Sarpanch Gidri Gurjit Singh that initially the stubble of nearby village Lapran caught fire due to the short circuit. Due to strong winds, the fire spread to villages Gidri and Bilaspur.

Enforcement team and officials from the electricity board visited the spot today.

Payal SDM Mankawal Singh Chahal along with Tehsildar Pardeep Bains reached the spot to analyse the loss. The tehsildar said a total of 36 acres of wheat of Gidri village and 20 acres at Bilaspur village was reduced to ashes.

“According to farmers sparking in the electricity line led to the fire, hence the SE of the PSPCL has been directed to submit a detailed report on the same. Meanwhile, the Revenue Department is preparing a case for the compensation,” said the SDM. Payal MLA Lakhvir Singh Lakha reached the spot and promised adequate compensation to the affected farmers.

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