Rainwater ravages crops on 20,000 acres in Fazilka

Standing crops on around 20,000 acres in Fazilka district have been submerged in water following heavy rainfall in the past four days, forcing farmers to manage affairs on their own in the “absence of assistance” from the administration.

They said the problem aggravated due to clogged drains, which the administration did not bother to clean properly before the onset of the monsoon.

Fazilka subdivision was the worst-hit in the district, where standing paddy and cotton crops on 11,700 acres submerged in knee-deep water, according to official figures. At least 20 villages in the district were affected by the flooding.

However, Deputy Commissioner Amarpreet Kaur Sandhu said the situation would return to normal in a couple of days as they had deployed staff with motor pumps to flush out excess water from the affected areas. Jagdeep Singh, SDO (Drainage), said water had started receding. He said excess rainwater flowed to low-lying Fazilka subdivision from nearby elevated areas, resulting in flooding.

Farmers said over 500 acres were inundated in Saubana village, situated near the India-Pakistan border.

Local residents said a breach in a water body three days ago led to the flooding. Panchayat member Kishore Kumar alleged that the drains weren’t cleaned in the area before the monsoon.

Atma Ram Kamboj, a farmer from Shajrana village, said standing paddy crop on over 400 acres was damaged due to flooding.

He claimed that fish farms on about 45 acres were swept away in the flood water of the Khui Khera drain. “Farmers have been left to fend for themselves as no arrangement has been made to drain out excess water,” he alleged.

Tahliwala Bodla village sarpanch Sunil Kumar said crop on around 1,500 acres was affected in Tahliwala Bodla, Singhpura and Chahlan villages. Farmer Surinder Kumar said “no one came to their rescue”. Several enraged farmers blocked the Fazilka-Malout road near Tahliwala Bodla village, demanding immediate steps to flush out stagnant water.

Release excess Sutlej water towards Pak

Ferozepur: Hundreds of farmers belonging to border villages here demanded that gates of the Hussainiwala barrage be opened immediately so that excess Sutlej water could be released towards Pakistan.

Jasbir Singh, state president of Harh Peedit Kissan Sangharsh Committee, said “Farmers fear damage to their crops due to flooding. Still, gates of the barrage are not being opened.” Meanwhile, as part of the local tradition, residents of Basti Ram Lal village offered a gold nose ring and cauldron full of rice to the river, seeking divine protection from floods. — OC

Drain full of hyacinth, officials claim funds for cleaning ‘fully utilised’

Abohar: Abohar and Balluana farmers on Monday expressed concern over the growth of hyacinth in the Abulkhurana drain.

According to farmers, they had been demanding the cleaning of the drain for the past month, only to be told by Drainage Department officials that funds available for it had been fully used.

They said three drains from Malout and Lambi areas merge into the Abulkhurana drain in the Balluana segment of Abohar.

Drainage Department SDO Rahul Jain said the drain had been cleaned with the funds and resources provided by the government. --OC