Week after heavy rain, Fazilka farmers struggle with waterlogged fields
Panchayats, meanwhile, have been directed to use funds from the 15th Planning Commission for emergency works — “without any delay”, officials said.
3 min read
Kinnow orchards under water in Abohar even after 8 days of rainfall. (Express Photo)Farmers said they continue to face significant distress in the “absence of assistance” from the administration even one week after a two-day heavy rainfall left farmland waterlogged in over 20 villages of Fazilka district. Several areas, especially fields and low-lying places, are still submerged in about two-feet water — a dip from the previous four feet — following the monsoon downpour between July 31 and August 1.
Amid water stagnation in agricultural land and inadequate drainage system, there is a built-up frustration among the farmers of Fazilka district.
“There is stagnant water in orchards, and cotton and paddy fields across many villages… In the past two decades, we have not witnessed such heavy rainfall in our area. This area has a subsurface water-logging issue, so seepage of water into the ground is not possible — it can only be pumped out. The sem nallahs, however, lack capacity and I wonder if they are even cleaned properly. Now we are only praying it does not rain again, so that the standing water can evaporate on its own,” Sukhjinder Singh Rajan, a farmer from Abohar, said.
Davinder Singh, another farmer from Alamgarh, said: “Ten acres of my paddy fields are still submerged in water — just like many farmers in our village. There is no drainage point to pump out the standing water.”
Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar in Maujgarh village. (Express Photo)
Echoing similar concerns, farmer Gurbanta Singh from Jhurarkhera said it is really upsetting that 10 acres of his paddy fields, too, have been “submerged in water over the week”.
Asserting pumps provided by the administration are “of no use”, Darshan Singh Giddranwali, a farmer from Giddranwali, said the situation is distressful. “These are 3-phase pumps, and our motors cannot support such connections.”
In Fazilka’s Abohar constituency the worst-hit villages are Dalmirkhera, Patti Billa, Khuian Sarwar, Sappanwali, Maujgarh, Giddranwali, and Diwankhera; and Sayeddanwali, Alamgarh, Dhingawali, Waryamkhera, Nihalkhera, Khippanwali, and Churianwali among others under the Balluana seat.
On Saturday, following his visit to several villages, Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar said “it was disturbing to see the extent of waterlogging there”.
Agriculture fields of Giddranwali village under water. (Express Photo)
“The standing water will kill every tree in these orchards, and the owners would not even get any compensation — unlike cotton and paddy cultivators, who are eligible for damage-based reliefs… We have given a representation to the Deputy Commissioner, to take a look at this case,” Jakhar said. His family orchards in Maujgarh are also submerged in water, amid the monsoon rains.
Panchayats, meanwhile, have been directed to use funds from the 15th Planning Commission for emergency works — “without any delay”, officials said.
On Thursday, Fazilka Deputy Commissioner Amarpreet Kaur Sandhu directed a “special girdawari” to determine the extent of damage to agricultural land and crops on priority, which would enable the government to provide appropriate compensation to affected farmers at the earliest. While the exact loss is yet to be quantified, hundreds of acres have been affected.
“Slow drainage of standing water can damage or even kill crops completely. The administration needs to pull up its socks…,” Rajan added.
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