Rain, waterlogged fields damage crops in Moga

BLURB: Farmers blame choked drains; seek special girdawari

Kulwinder Sandhu

Tribune News Service

Moga, September 23

Normal life was thrown out of gear due to heavy downpour in Moga city and many other parts of the district today.

The rain exposed hollow claims of development of the local Municipal Corporation as the sewer system got choked and low-lying areas in and around the city were inundated.

Many roads and streets in the city were submerged. The narrow by-lanes in most parts of the city were blocked. Water also stagnated in many buildings of the state government. Most of the shops remained closed due to heavy rainfall in the city.

There were also reports of heavy downpour in Baghapurana, Nihalsinghwala and Dharamkot areas of the district. In some areas, rainwater reportedly entered the houses. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the roads. No official of the local body came out of their offices to address the woes of rain-hit people.

Schoolchildren faced hardships in reaching their home. Jaswinder Singh, a city resident, alleged that most of the water draining pumps attached to the sewer lines were lying non-functional and thus the problem of waterlogging could not be addressed.

In rural areas, most of the natural drains in the district were blocked as they were allegedly not cleaned by the drainage wing of the irrigation department. The drains were lying choked at several places due to weed and silt. Due to this, rainwater entered the fields in many villages. The farmers alleged that their crops may be damaged in waterlogged fields.

Balwinder Singh, Balwant Singh and other farmers of Bhaloor village alleged that the Langeana drain was also not cleaned by the department concerned despite repeated requests by local village panchayats. They demanded the state government to order special girdawari for assessing the losses to crops.