NHAI officials summoned over blocking of natural drainage in Punjab

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing has summoned officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) over elevated highways leading to multiple problems for farmers in Punjab.

Pointing out that elevated highways, at places as high as 10 ft, were blocking the natural drainage for agricultural land, the committee has asked the NHAI officials to produce record on the planning of the highways and arrangements made for the drainage of rainwater.

The issue has been repeatedly raised by legislators in Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

Among the major projects being undertaken by the NHAI in Punjab include the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra, Amritsar-Bathinda, Ludhiana-Bathinda, Sirhind-Sehna, Mohali-Sirhind, Southern Ludhiana bypass, Amritsar-Ramdass, Northern Patiala bypass. The parliamentary panel, headed by Congress Lok Sabha MP Charanjit Singh Channi, while summoning officials of the NHAI, and Ministry of Rural Development for September 2, has said that at most of the places, natural drains in agricultural fields have been closed due to the elevated highways.

Channi, who is former Punjab CM, told The Tribune that the unplanned elevated highways had not only affected the natural drainage, but also hit the agricultural land as fertile top layers from fields had been excavated beyond the permissible limit. “The removal of the fertile layer has affected the productivity of agricultural lands. There are several sites where the digging has been done up to 10 ft. Highways were planned without even taking note of their social impact and rehabilitation of farmers,” he said.

The committee also sought to know the impact of the acquisition of land of the NHAI projects on agricultural produce, as Punjab was majorly an agrarian economy.

It may be mentioned that the committee had earlier summoned the Punjab Government to furnish the notification withdrawing the controversial land pooling policy. The Committee has been informed by the state that the land policy had been withdrawn in the Cabinet. The state had been accused of “decreasing fertile land due to indiscriminate acquisition” for urbanisation and infrastructure development.