100-acre of fields flooded fields, as canal breaches bank in Mansa
Bharatiya Kissan Union (BKU) members alleged the irrigation department had failed to carry out cleaning of canals leading to the breach after heavy rain. The breach was plugged only after 10 hours.
Around 100-acre of fields were submerged after a breach in the Uddat canal near Ramanandi village in Jhunir block of Mansa district of Punjab on Wednesday about 4am.
Hardeep Singh, a village and local farm leader, said, “About 12 acres of cotton, 70 acres of paddy crop and 18 acres of green fodder for animals have been submerged in water after the canal breached at 4am. The upper primary school remained closed due to water-logging.”
Bharatiya Kissan Union (BKU) members alleged the irrigation department had failed to carry out cleaning of canals leading to the breach after heavy rain.
The breach was plugged only after 10 hours.
Uttam Singh, a villager, said, “Employees of the irrigation department failed to stop the water flowing out of the river as they did not have the required arrangements to stop the flow of water, However we helped them out with to stop the flow.”
Irrigation department executive engineer Kartar Chand did no respond to repeated calls from HT.
Farmers protest in Muktsar
With rain flooding their fields, dismayed farmers staged a protest near Udekaran village, while the Bhartiya Kissan Union (Sidhupur) blocked the Ferozepur-Muktsar road near Lubaniawali village on Wednesday.
Muktsar MLA Kanwarjit Singh Rozy Barkandi, too, joined the agitation. Addressing protesters, Sukhdev Singh, president, BKU alleged, “The drains have not been cleaned properly. Muktsar is prone to water logging. Hundreds of acres of crop are feared to have been damaged due to rainfall.”
Muktsar deputy commissioner Aravind Kumar, who visited Pakki Tibbi, Srawan Bodla, Jhorar, Udekaran villages in Malout sub division on Wednesday, said “The state government has sent ₹20 lakh for the rescue operation in the district. Saving human lives and crops is our priority.We have appealed to the public not to obstruct the natural flow of water.” He added a nodal officer had been deployed for every 10 villages. “We are trying to clear obstructions in drains. The situation will be normal soon,” said executive engineer drainage Amritveer Randhawa.
In Ferozepur, land near rail track caves in
The cave-in of the land just beside a railway track at Dod village, 12 km away from the district authorities, hampered rail traffic for two hours on Wednesday. Locals are blaming the cave-in on waterlogging on both sides of the track and it came to notice after a Diesel Mechanic Unit (DMU) moved from Ferozepur to reach Fazilka on the Ferozepur-Sriganganagar rail route.
Before corrective steps could be taken, two bogies also passed the track. However, keyman Ram Kumar raised an alarm, following which train movement was stopped. Later, labourers and villagers stacked sandbags along the track and ensured trains could pass through at reduced speed.
Ferozepur divisional railway manager Rajesh Aggarwal acknowledged the incident. “There was no loss. Now, the track is being used as in routine.”