Agricultural fields submerged; farmers rue damage to crops

Sameer Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 17

Heavy downpour and subsequent breaches in tributary channels of Sirhind Canal in different areas in the district on Tuesday left hundreds of acres of agricultural land submerged in rainwater, causing damage to cotton and paddy crops.

Post heavy rain in the wee hours of Wednesday, a breach was reported in a tributary of the canal near Teona village that passes through Ghudda and Bajak among other villages. Subsequently, hundreds of acres of agricultural land inundated. Farmers in these villages rued that apart from crop damage, there tubewells also got damaged due to heavy rain.

Later, to express their resentment, farmers of these villages staged a protest and blocked the Bathinda-Badal road near the Nandgarh overbridge and raised slogans against officials of the Irrigation Department.

Harbhagwan Singh, a farmer from Bajak village, sad his cotton crop sown in seven acres had submerged completely. He demanded that the government must provide him adequate compensation so that the loss could be minimised.

Jagshir Singh Jhumba, district convener, BKU Ekta Ugrahan, said, “A breach in a tributary channel can be attributed to the apathetic stance of Irrigation Department officials, who never bothered to clean or carry out the repairs of the tributary.”

Jagmeet Singh, SDO, Irrigation Department, said the flow of the water supply from the canal had been lowered and the breach in the tributary would be repaired soon. After assurance, farmers ended their protest.

Meanwhile, farmers of Mehma Bhagwana and Mehma Sarkari staged a protest and blocked the Bathinda-Muktsar road demanding compensation for damage due to incessant rain on Tuesday. The protest was on till filing of the story.

Notably, a breach was reported in a drain near Ablu village. As a result, fields in many adjacent villages submerged.

Nirmal Singh Bhatti, sarpanch of Ablu village, said they tried to call administration and irrigation department officials, but to no avail.

Situation at Deon and Buladewala villages also remained same. Meanwhile, when farmers of Deon village tried to drain water towards Buladewala village, villagers objected to it. Later, police personnel from the Balluana police post reached the spot and handled the situation. Moreover, a minor is reportedly was broken due to heavy rain near Kot Bhai village.

Chief Agriculture Officer Gurditta Singh Brar said, “Crops are certainly damaged where breaches in the canal or its tributaries were reported, but a majority of the crops in the rest of the villages in the district are still safe. But, if rain continues in the coming days, it might damage the crops.”