The heavy rains in the past have turned our lives upside down. The water came so much that if the village was saved, the crops would be destroyed and if the crops were saved, the village would be destroyed. We saved our houses from the water but the crops got submerged.” These passionate words belong to farmer Vijay Kumar, a resident of Kuhadraswali village under District F.Z.L.A. This farmer said that he has plowed the sown rice and paddy in his 18 acres of land. In fact, this is the situation of other farmers of district Sri Muktsar Sahib, Fazilka and Ferozepur.
The fields of many villages of these districts were flooded due to the continuous rain in the past, due to which the green fodder of paddy, paddy, and cattle rotted due to standing water in the fields. Administrative officials say that according to an estimate, more than a thousand acres of crops in the entire region have come under the influence of rainwater. During the visit of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to Fazilka district, the officials told the Chief Minister how many crops have been affected by water in this region. His exact figure can be revealed only after Gir Davari.
Says Vijay Kumar, “The cost of planting paddy was Rs 8,000 per acre so far and similarly I spent Rs 6,000 per acre on the soft crop.” “After applying expensive weed killers, pesticides and fertilizers, only one or two sprays were left to bring home a soft crop, but the water dashed all hopes.” Now I am thinking of planting paddy again. Paneeri, which used to fetch Rs 2.00 per marla, is now fetching Rs 2000 per marla.” “The price of paddy was 3 thousand rupees per acre, which has now increased to 5 thousand rupees per acre. The debt will lead to more distractions, only then will the next crop come in the home yard.” The biggest problem in the flood-affected areas is that when a farmer does not use a motor to pump water in his field. If he sends it, then the farmers in the other fields stop that water. It sometimes also becomes the cause of ‘you you-me me’. What did the Chief Minister say? Vijay Kumar said that the ground water is very bitter, which sometimes destroys the paddy crop. “The government had built sem drains to draw water from the low-lying areas, but they are of no use to us. Many times we have even had a fight over the extraction of water from the fields.
