Farmers say silt removal plan ‘unprofitable’, cite poor sand quality

Several flood-hit farmers here rejected the state government scheme that allowed them to mine and sell sand deposited in their fields by swollen rivers. The farmers said the mixing of mountain soil and clay with sand had reduced its quality, rendering the venture unprofitable.

Moreover, they flagged the lack of heavy machinery to remove the deposited silt.

“Where’s the heavy machinery to remove the silt? The government will have to provide us with earth-moving machines through societies or the local administration, only then we would be able to remove it,” said Paramjit Singh, sarpanch of Baupur Jadid village. Members of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee also handed over memoranda to district administrations across Punjab on the issues.

Salwinder Jania, state secretary of the organisation, said, “The government tried this stunt to earn our goodwill but this won’t help anyway. Mixed sand will not sell more than Rs 2,000 per trolley.” “Normally, pure sand is available for Rs 15,000 a trolley. But Rs 2,000 is a pittance, especially since the farmer will have to arrange earth-moving machines on rent, pay for its fuel, labour and trolley charges,” he added.

Jania said a farmer would have to spend thousands of rupees per acre to remove silt depending on its volume and distance from the site where it could be sold.

“Rather than selling the sand, a more feasible option for farmers would be to get the silt unloaded near a bundh site and strengthen the embankment for protection from floods in future,” the farm union leader said expressing concern over plan feasibility.