Rainy season begins, but drains clogged in Muktsar

Archit Watts

Muktsar, June 27

The rainy season has started, but the drains are yet to be cleaned in Muktsar district, which has reminded people of the losses which they suffered in the year 2013.

Travel on any road in the district and one may see the drains clogged with wild growth. Usually, the cleaning of drains has to be done before the onset of the rainy season in July.

This correspondent during a tour of the district found that a number of normal and link drains were clogged. The farmers claimed that neighbouring Fazilka district had started the drain cleaning work, but here in Muktsar district the situation was almost the same as of now. “Even last year, the drains were cleaned on the intervention of MLAs Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar and Gurmeet Singh Khuddian,” they claimed.

Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Harpreet Singh Sudan had recently said the cleaning of some drains would begin from June 17 and a few others would be cleaned from June 30.

Notably, Muktsar is a waterlogging prone district, thus having a vast network of drains. These drains are just like ‘kutcha’ canals, which carry the excessive rainwater from fields and eventually fall into the Sutlej.

The farmers are here given exemption in a number of villages to sow paddy crop anytime after the harvesting of wheat crop just because of waterlogging.

Meanwhile, the district administration has set up three sub-divisional flood control rooms.