9,200 acres of cotton destroyed

Reports of affected crop have come from Doka,Tehna,Kameana,Veerewala,Nanagla,Chameli,Dhidhi. Mandwala,Dhurkot,Jeewanwala and Aulakh villages in Faridkot.

Agriculture Development Officer Kiranjit Singh said: “This crop is grown in low-lying areas and the floodwater has stagnated in the fields here. With the sun shining bright for the last couple of days,this water has warmed up and damaged the crop. The rainfall that we had today will spell further doom for the crop. There could be an outbreak of a pest attack too.”

Farmers are,however,not blaming the weather gods for this damage,but the state government,accusing it of failing to clear the canals in time.

“Monsoon comes every year. This damage to the crop is not because of rains. This is due to failure of the state government to clean the drains ahead of the monsoon,” said Charanjit Singh Sandhu,a local farm union leader.

Another union leader Ajit Singh Mehmooeana added: “The drainage department gets huge funds each year to clean these drains but no money seems to have been spent for the purpose. Every drain in our area is overflowing. Faridkot has not received excess rainfall. This is the water which is being pumped into our drains from upper areas. Since these drains are lying choked,the water has entered our fields.”

The farmers of the area have demanded appropriate compensation for the loss. “We grow Bt cotton,the seed for which is very expensive. It is not easy to re-sow the crop,” said Jaspal Singh Nagal,a farmer.

Punjab Agricultural University has,meanwhile,released an advisory,asking the farmers to spray cobalt chloride in the affected area. PAU scientists say this spray will help cotton plants regain its turgidity.