Floods damage 12,000 hectares paddy in Punjab’s Doaba

Paddy sown over 12,500 hectares in Doaba’s Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts have been damaged due to floods that wreaked havoc post July 10, according to agriculture department officials

Jalandhar : Paddy sown over 12,500 hectares in Doaba’s Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts have been damaged due to floods that wreaked havoc post July 10, according to agriculture department officials.

Paddy sown over 12,500 hectares in Doaba’s Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts have been damaged due to floods that wreaked havoc post July 10, according to agriculture department officials.

Jalandhar chief agriculture officer Jaswant Rai said paddy on 5,500 hectares has been completely damaged due to floods. “We are hoping to resow paddy on 3,666 hectares (2/3 of the total area) but it won’t be possible on one-third of the area (1,833 hectares) as the fields are still inundated,” he said.

The department will provide free saplings of basmati varieties PR126 and 1509 to farmers for resowing, he said.

Kapurthala chief agriculture officer Balbir Chand said at least 7,000 hectare of area under paddy cultivation is still flooded in the district.

“The exact damage to the crop will be assessed only after the floodwater recedes completely. The revenue department is also conducting girdawari to assess the crop so the farmers be compensated,” he said.

A total of 62 villages, including 34 in Jalandhar’s Shahkot subdivision and 28 in Sultanpur Lodhi sub-division of Kapurthala district, were severely affected in the floods that were caused due to two major breaches in Sutlej’s dhussi bundh.

The newly sown paddy crop completely submerged in 5-6 feet of water in most of these villages for three days before it started receding. The floodwater is presently stranded in many low-lying villages causing inconvenience to farmers and the agriculture department to oversee the arrangements for resowing paddy. The silt and stones accumulated in the fields have also added to the worries of the farmers.

Agriculture department officials say the chances for the revival of the sown paddy crop is grim. The exact assessment related to crop damage will be done by the state revenue department.

According to agriculture department’s initial assessment, the worst-affected villages include Gidarpindi, Mundi Cholian, Mandala Chhanna, Nasirpur, Pipli Miani, Yousufpur Darewal, Khilwal, Tendiwal, Janiyan Chahal, Janiyan, Kotha, Nal, Manika, Kang Khurd Mandala, Jalalpur Khurd, Mundi Shehrian, Bhora Jodh Singh, and Kutbiwal in Jalandhar district.

Water is still accumulated in many villages in Kapurthala district. These Takia, Mand Inderpur, Bharowana, Ahli kalan, Ahli Khurd, Jgugian gammu, chananwindi, Wattan Wali, Sheikh Manga, Mand Andrisa, Sangra, Mand Mubarakpur, Muhammadabad, Baupur Kadim, Baupur Jadid, Rampur Gura, Mand Bandu Jadid, Bhaini Karim Baksh and Bhaini Bahadur.

A farmer from Mundi Cholian village, Parminder Singh, said they are staring heavy losses this year as the conditions are not favourable to sow paddy again. “The water is all around my land and it will take another 10-12 days to completely drain and that too if it doesn’t rain,” he said.

Jatinder Singh of Yousufpur Darewal village said the government is asking them to go with basmati varieties for which it is going to provide free saplings but who will bear the cost of labour? “There is no hope of crop this kharif season. We hope that water drains out fast so there is not much damage to soil health,” he said.