Owner of 28 acres
lives in penury
From Chander
Parkash
Tribune News Service
FATTA BALU (Bathinda), Oct
10 Mr Jarnail Singh, a former sarpanch of the
village, owns 28 acres. Yet he has been keeping his
kitchen fire burning with the help of relatives and
friends as water logging has rendered his land unfit for
cultivation for the past five years.
Another farmer, Mr Harnek
Singh has been earning his living by tilling another
man's land.
Farmers of Golewala, Kalal
Wala, Raiya, Kouriana, Nateha and this village are
finding it hard to make both ends meet as their land has
become unfit for cultivation due to water logging.
During a tour of these
villages, farmers told TNS that every year there was a
flood-like situation during the rainy season. There was
no provision for draining out water and most villages
were low lying.
They alleged that despite
repeated requests successive state governments had not
bothered to dig a drain to solve the problem. In all
these villages 2000 acres of land has been badly
affected. The remaining land is yielding only one crop a
year.
Due to water logging, the
paddy crop is still submerged in water. In some pockets,
the crop has begun to decay.
According to information
gathered by TNS the area gets water-logged due to seepage
from the adjoining Bhakra mainline canal. The area has
been ravaged by floods thrice in the past decade.
In Nateha village the
buildings of primary school, veterinary hospital, civil
dispensary, panchayat ghar, water works, a 25-bed
hospital and 100 acres of land are under knee-deep water.
Mr S.R. Ladhar, Deputy
Commissioner, who recently toured the area and heard the
grievances of the people, when contacted, said a lift
scheme had been started in Nateha village to drain out
water from the low-lying areas. He said Rs 10 lakh would
be spent on the scheme.
About 250 acres of land
had been identified as severely water-logged and unfit
for cultivation. A sum of Rs 12 lakh had been demanded
from the state government as compensation for the
affected farmers.
He said he had held talks
with the Deputy Commissioner, Sirsa (Haryana), for
digging a drain from these villages towards Haryana
territory as the natural flow of water was in that
direction.
Meanwhile, Mr Harminder
Singh Jassi, chief whip of Congress in the Punjab Vidhan
Sabha, talking to TNS, alleged that the Punjab Government
led by Mr Parkash Singh Badal had been giving a
step-motherly treatment to the Talwandi Sabo assembly
segment, in which these villages fell, as he had defeated
the Akali candidate from this constituency.
He said more than Rs 70
crore had been spent for removing water logging in
Muktsar district. On the other hand, not a penny had been
spent on this area, he alleged.
He said he would raise the
matter in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in the next session and
press the government for necessary measures to mitigate
the sufferings of the affected farmers.
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