Monsoon fury: Hundreds of tubewells damaged, others spouting dirty water in Sangrur

Parvesh Sharma

Sangrur, August 1

As floodwater recedes from the villages of Sangrur, the magnitude of damage caused is becoming clearer. Hundreds of tubewells have been damaged in 30 affected villages of the district. Many of the tubewells have stopped functioning as they have been choked by sand, while others are issuing dirty water.

New machine costs Rs 4 Lakh

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In addition to losing my paddy crop, I also lost my tubewell. I got it examined from a mechanic and he said that I would have to install a new one, which would cost around Rs 4 lakh. Gurcharan Singh, a farmer

At some places, farmers could be seen trying to repair the tubewells on their own by removing sand. However, some of them have been damaged beyond repair as the sides of the tubewells have caved in due to floodwater.

“In addition to losing my paddy crop, I also lost my tubewell. I got it examined by a mechanic and he said that I would have to install a new one, which would cost around Rs 4 lakh. The tubewell of my neighbour is releasing dirty water, which seems to be unfit for farming,” said Gurcharan Singh, a farmer from Moonak.

As per an official report by the Sangrur district agriculture department, 44,000 acres were inundated by floodwater during the deluge. Authorities have said that farmers will have to replant paddy on at least 33,000 acres of land in 30 villages of the Moonak area of the district.

Another farmer, Leela Singh, said: “The government should compensate us for tubewell losses as well, because the losses caused by their damage have been huge in a season when most of the crop has also been damaged.”

Talking to The Tribune, other farmers of the area said that until a few years ago, groundwater used to be available up to a depth of 300 feet. But now, due to overexploitation of groundwater, bores as deep as 500 feet need to be dug.

Sangrur DC Jitendra Jorwal directed officials to complete the special girdawari of losses caused by floods by August 15.