Paddy crop on more than 70 acres was destroyed after a canal distributary breached near Nasrali village for the second time at the same spot in a fortnight, leaving farmers staring at heavy losses and raising questions over the quality of repair work carried out by officials concerned.
The sudden breach led to canal water flooding a vast stretch of agricultural land, submerging standing paddy crop and nurseries in the area. Sarpanch Jaswant Singh of Nasrali village said that while supplying canal water to agricultural fields was a positive initiative by the Punjab government, repeated breaches in the distributary had become a headache for villagers. Who will compensate farmers for the losses caused by the flooding, he questioned. “My ready paddy nursery has been completely destroyed after being submerged in canal water,” he said.
A group of farmers, including Jasvir Singh Jassi, Jinder Singh Puadhra, Lakhvir Singh Lakhi, Dilpreet Singh Baidwan and Billa Isru, said over 70 acres of paddy crop had been damaged due to the breach. They said the damage had dealt a severe financial blow as they would now have to spend again on fertilisers, pesticides, paddy nursery, transplantation, tractor operations, diesel and other farming expenses.
The affected farmers alleged that the repeated breaches are due to a narrow water outlet, which is unable to handle the heavy flow of water from the distributary. They said the strong and unrestricted water flow has caused the canal embankment to collapse at the same location repeatedly.
{{/usCountry}}The affected farmers alleged that the repeated breaches are due to a narrow water outlet, which is unable to handle the heavy flow of water from the distributary. They said the strong and unrestricted water flow has caused the canal embankment to collapse at the same location repeatedly.
{{/usCountry}}Sarpanch Jaswant Singh Nasrali, district president of Shiromani Akali Dal (Sudhar Lehar) Hakam Singh Nasrali, along with other farmers, demanded immediate compensation for crop losses. They have also urged the canal department to take permanent measures to strengthen the distributary and prevent further losses to farmers.
On June 17, a farmer had a miraculous escape after a distributary canal breached the bank and damaged the siphon bridge near Kutba village in Raikot. The farmer’s tractor was submerged immediately, but he managed to escape. The overflowing water flooded the nearby fields. According to the farmers, crop on at least 15 acres was damaged.
Despite repeated attempts, sub-divisional magistrate Swati Tiwana was not available for comments.