Giana (Bathinda), August 3
The hard-pressed farmers of Talwandi Sabo subdivision of the district and some pockets of the neighbouring Mansa district returned disappointed as the visit of the Governor, Punjab, Lt-Gen J.F.R. Jacob to drought-affected areas today failed to bring them any relief except an assurance that they would be taken care of by the state government.

The farmers of the region, who were waiting that the Chief Minister, Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh, who returned to the Vidhan Sabha as an Akali candidate from Talwandi Sabo Assembly segment in 1985, would make a visit here, were hopeful when they came to know yesterday that the Governor, Punjab, would make a tour of the affected areas, listen to their problems and solve these on the spot. However, their hopes were dashed to the ground when General Jacob said the state government would provide seeds of less water-consuming crops to the affected farmers free of cost but kept mum on whether the arrangements for adequate canal water supply would be made or not.

The farmers were also disappointed when the district administration did not allow them to raise any other problem pertaining to other issues on the pretext that the Governor had come here only to see the ground situation in connection with the drought.

General Jacob while interacting with the affected farmers assured them that they would be suitably compensated for the loss of their paddy and cotton crops after conducting a girdawari from August 10. General Jacob also visited the fields of an affected farmer Naib Singh who was ploughing his fields after these got dried up due to an acute shortage of water.

He said the Punjab Government had started giving free seeds of guara to the affected farmers and would also make efforts to increase the production of guara gum in the state so that farmers could get better prices for it. He added that the state government had also been making efforts to convert the underground saline water into potable water.

Before visiting the affected areas, General Jacob held a meeting with the officials of Bathinda and Mansa district and took first-hand information from them about the drought condition. He visited fields Phulokarhi and Giana villages in Bathinda district and Bhainiwal in Mansa district.

Apart from drought-related problems, the farmers and other people also tried to raise matters pertaining to inadequate compensation for the land acquired for setting up of an oil refinery and inadequate power supply to rural areas.

Mr Alok Shekhar, Deputy Commissioner, Mansa, apprised the Governor that about 30 to 40 per cent paddy crop and about 40 per cent cotton crop could get damaged in the district due to drought.

He added that water supply at the tail end of canals was very less and farmers had been forced to spend more money on diesel to run their tubewells. Mr G.K. Singh, officiating Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, also apprised the Governor about the situation in Bathinda district.

Meanwhile, only a section of the school students, who were also present at the function held at Giana village, found themselves lucky when the Governor directed the district administration to give them footballs, volleyballs and cricket equipment for sports.

While talking to mediapersons at Talwandi Sabo, General Jacob said he had come here to acquaint himself with the problems of farmers due to the drought-like conditions. He added that he had come to see the ground situation for himself.