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Deepender Deswal
Tribune News Service
Hisar, August 7
Crops in large agricultural tracts in several villages of this district are getting damaged as these are waterlogged. The power department has allegedly refused to provide electricity to drain out water from the fields using pump sets to save the standing crops. Instead, farmers have been asked to arrange their own generator sets to run pump sets.
The agricultural fields in Shikarpur, Mirzapur, Raipur, Khokha, Kharkhari, Ghiray, Ladwa, Dabra and Satrod villages adjoining this town are submerged with rainwater.
Led by sarpanch Surender Kumar, residents of Shikarpur village met the Deputy Commissioner today and demanded that immediate steps be taken to drain out rainwater accumulated in the fields. The sarpanch informed that the DC directed the power officials over the phone to do the needful and asked them to meet the officials concerned. “However, power officials told us that the panchayat should have made its own arrangement to drain out water. Though the Irrigation Department has provided pump sets but these are lying defunct for want of electricity supply,” the sarpanch said.
He maintained that the entire locality of BPL families in the village was flooded with rainwater. Residents of the locality have shifted to safer places. “Some left for their relatives’ places while others are putting up at the panchayat sachivalaya building in the village,” said Surender Kumar.
The sarpanch said around 1,200 acres of kharif crops, including cotton, had been completely damaged due to rainwater. A farmer of Bahbalpur village, Ramdhari Singh, said, “While the standing crops have rotten, we would not be able to sow wheat for the rabi season if the water is not flushed out of the fields at the earliest.”
RK Garg, Superintending Engineer, Operations, DHBVN, said it was the responsibility of the Irrigation Department to tie up with them and get power connections. Instead, they asked the villagers and panchayat to approach us, which is not the right way, he added.
Vinod Kumar, Executive Engineer, Irrigation, said they had installed pump sets in these villages and also requisitioned power supply from the DHBVN. “But villagers complain that power supply is not round the clock and prolonged power cuts slowed down water drainage. We would take up the issue with the power officials to supply round the clock power in the affected villages,” he said.
Farmers to start ‘jail bharo’ tomorrow
Hisar: Farmers under the banner of Rashtriya Kisan Mahasang would start a ‘jail bharo’ agitation across the country on August 9 when they would court arrest in support of their demand of implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations. State president of Bhartiya Kisan Sangharsh Samiti Suresh Koth said here today that they would start the stir from Uklana town of Hisar where farmers from Bhiwani, Fatehabad, Hisar and Jind districts would gather to court arrest. The Rastriya Kisan Mahasang comprises 62 non-political organisations in the country already on the warpath over issues concerning farmers. “On August 9, Mahatma Gandhi had started Quit India Movement against the British and we too would start our stir on the farmers’ issues against the BJP-led NDA government on this day. Since the BJP has failed to keep its promise of implementing the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, we would seek Prime Minister Narender Modi’s resignation,” Koth said. TNS
Janata Akali Dal seeks MSP hike
Kurukshetra: The Janata Akali Dal (JAD), led by Jagdish Singh Jhinda, will hold a series of demonstrations from the next week to highlight the plight of the farming community. Jhinda said a memorandum of demands addressed to the President would be handed over to the Panchkula district administration on August 16 and similar protests would be held at various districts later this month. He said the Centre should make details public about the parameters for fixing and increasing minimum support price (MSP) of various crops. Jhinda said JAD did not support loan waivers or free electricity to farmers but profitable MSP for various agricultural products. He said the party welcomed taxing farmers if they were guaranteed higher price for their crops. TNS
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