A single's day rain on March 6 has affected and damaged upto 25 per cent of the wheat crop on 7,150 acres of land in 36 villages of Sangrur district, a survey report by the Deputy Commissioner (DC) has found. The Sangrur DC Saturday submitted this preliminary survey report to the Secretary, Punjab Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management. A special Girdawari (survey) is still going on and the damage may go up. Most of the damage took place due to heavy rain followed by hailstorm late Friday. All these villages fall under Lehra sub division of the Sangrur District. According to the report (copy with The Indian Express), around two dozens villages are worst affected, which included Kalia, Gaga, Lehra, Khokhar where the damage occurred on 650 acres, 600 acres and 450 acres, respectively. Villages like Chagaliwala, Hariau, Daska, suffered crop loss on 300 acres each. Bhai Ke Pishor, Jhaloor, Chural Khurad, Chural Kalan, Bakhera Kalan suffered a loss on 250 acres each, while Alampur, Alisher, Sangatpura, Sekhuwas, suffered damage on 200 acres each. Rampura Jwaharwala, Fatehgarh, Bakhera Khurad, and Gurne suffered damage in 150 acres each. The report mentions that all the villages reported a loss between 40 acres to 120 acres each. BKU Dakaunda president Gurmit Singh Bhattiwal, meanwhile, claimed that nearly 50 per cent cfop has been damaged and said this fact will come to fore after the special Girdawari. General Secretary, Jagmohan Singh, demanded that government should compensate farmers for this heavy loss at the rate of Rs 30,000 per acre. BKU Ugrahan general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan demanded an immediate compensation to the farmers. He said that apart from wheat framers, the vegetable farmers too have suffered major damage. Meanwhile the Punjab Agriculture department has issued an advisory to the farmers to immediately drain out the water from their fields adversely affected by heavy rain, gusty winds and hailstorm. Agriculture Secretary Kahan Singh Pannu has directed the field officers to immediately get in touch with affected farmers for giving them proper advice. He also asked the field officers to coordinate with revenue officials for assisting them in conducting the special girdawari to assess the crop damage in affected areas. Director, Agriculture, Sutantar Kumar Airy asked the field officers to extensively tour the rain hit areas during holidays and send the reports of damage due to inclement weather, to the head office immediately. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday had ordered a special girdawari for the assessment of crop loss caused by the untimely rainfall and hailstorm in the state.
