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Dust storm wreaks havoc in south Malwa; crops, power lines damaged
A high-velocity storm swept Bathinda and adjoining districts of southwest Punjab during intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, uprooting trees, disrupting power and drinking water supply
A high-velocity storm swept Bathinda and adjoining districts of southwest Punjab during intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, uprooting trees, disrupting power and drinking water supply at several places.
Farmers and state agriculture officials fear an adverse impact on the freshly-sown cotton and horticulture crops as the region also witnessed rainfall.
Information from various districts said more than 800 transformers and 3,000 electricity poles were damaged. Maximum damage to the electricity supply network in southwest Punjab was reported from Bathinda and Muktsar districts.
Official sources said 460 transformers of different capacities and 1,800 poles reportedly got damaged in Bathinda alone whereas 300 transformers and about 850 poles were dislocated due to the storm.
Chief engineer of the Bathinda-based west zone of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) said efforts are being made to restore power supply.
“Storm has badly hit the transmission network. Teams are working since early morning to normalise operations,” he added.
Chief agriculture officer of Bathinda, Dilbag Singh said the unseasonal rainfall would hit cotton sowing recently. “Fields, where cotton was sown in the last almost 7-10 days ago, would be the worst hit. Showers at this stage would lead to ‘krand’ (hard formation of soil) that stalls germination. Farmers can work manually to smoothen the hard crust of soil but that would cause additional labour cost. Cotton growers may be left with no choice than sowing and it would enhance cost input for the cash crop. The inclement weather has left all worried as farmers are already in a quandary for continuing with cotton sowing this season,” said the official.
A kinnow grower from Saidanwali village in Fazilka Bala Ram Bishnoi said the climatic conditions would hit the quality of the fruit. “Orchards are at the initial fruiting stage and winds would leave scratches on kinnows’ skin. Farmers will face a financial brunt as traders would devalue the fruit due to the quality parameters,” said Bishnoi. Another farmer from Abohar, Arvind Setia said the storm has hit other seasonal horticulture crops of peach and mango.
