Jalandhar: 47 days on, 8,000 acres still submerged in Lohian block

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, August 25

Continuous rain alerts are only making the situation worse in low-lying areas of Lohian block where around 8,000 acres are still inundated for the past 47 days.

As a result, marginal farmers who had pinned their hopes on the paddy crop stare at a huge debt.

Chiman Singh of Mundi Shehrian village, who owns one acre, said, “I don’t know what will happen. There is still 3-foot water in the field. We can sow next crop only when the water recedes.”

Kashmir Singh of Mundi Shehrian village said some pumps had been installed by the NGOs to drain out water, but it’s a slow process.

“Now, weather will change in the coming days and drying up the fields ahead of sowing next crops will become very difficult. We are the ones who suffer the most as our fields are in low-lying areas. We had gone through the same in the 2019 as well,” he said.

Sarabjit Singh, a resident of Gatta Mundi Kasu, said, “This time, the situation is quite dangerous.”

Chief Agriculture Officer Jaswant Rai said complete crop damaged had been observed on 8,000 acres in Lohian due to the flooding. “Still, there is a rain alert. Even if water recedes, silt and sand will make things difficult for farmers. Exact situation will get clear in the coming days.”