Naseeb Singh, 28, who farms over 17 acres of land in a village close to Dera Baba Nanak city in Gurdaspur, got here throughout an odd drawback when he inspected his farm following the current floods — almost two. acres of his discipline had became a pit filled with floodwater and the remainder was lined with silt.
Standing subsequent to a damaged embankment on his farmland close to the India-Pakistan border, Mr. Naseeb stated, “The bond (embankment) broke at night time, and the pressure with which the water gushed in created this pit, which is about 30-40 ft deep. The remainder of my discipline was lined below over 5 ft of silt. We’ve been working to clear it for the previous two weeks.”
The farmer estimates his losses at over ₹50 lakh. “I don’t know the best way to pay again my loans amounting to ₹10 lakh,” he stated.
In August and September, Punjab confronted one among its worst floods in a long time, affecting greater than 20 lakh folks throughout 2,614 villages and displacing 6.87 lakh folks.
Farmers in a number of villages close to the Ravi river in Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts of north-west Punjab shared comparable tales of farmland destruction and crop losses amid complaints of apathy from the Central and State. governments.
In keeping with Punjab authorities information, floods have hit round 2 lakh hectares of farmland, which is lower than 5% of the entire space sown throughout the kharif season.
Final month, the State authorities introduced a compensation of ₹10,000-₹20,000 per acre, relying on the extent of harm. Nevertheless, the help is but to be launched.
When contacted, the ruling Aam Aadmi Social gathering stated the compensation introduced by the Punjab authorities is “unmatched”. “For the primary time, we’ve set a 45-day bracket, inside which we’ll full girdawari (inspection) and guarantee each affected particular person receives the compensation cheque,” learn a press release issued by the social gathering.
Assist by volunteers
Many of the affected farmers The Hindu spoke to stated they’d suffered losses working into lakhs of rupees and expressed concern over mounting pursuits on their present mortgage.
Many additionally stated that they had been more likely to miss the rabi sowing season in November given the in depth work required to revive their land, made all of the tougher by the scarcity of cash and labour.
At his discipline, the place two tractors and one bulldozer are working to clear the silt and fill the pit, Mr. Naseeb stated dozens of volunteers, largely farmers from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, have been working tirelessly with him freed from value. “With out them, I couldn’t have managed something. The federal government has not completed something for us but,” he stated.
Two of his associates have been serving to Malki Singh, 36, in eradicating silt from the sphere in Hoshiarpur. “After we got here right here, there was six to eight ft of silt on the land. We’ve been working right here for a couple of week.”
He added that he, together with others, has been doing “my very own (volunteer work)” for the previous one-and-a-half months in varied flood-affected villages within the space.
Amrik Singh, a 45-year-old father of three youngsters, stated his complete cauliflower crop, spanning 4 acres of land, was washed away within the flood. “I misplaced about ₹14 lakh within the calamity. I had taken ₹1 lakh mortgage from the financial institution and ₹50,000 mortgage from an aartiya (intermediary) for bills in sowing the crop. Now I am considering of promoting one or two of my three buffaloes to pay them again at the very least a number of the mortgage,” he stated.
,How a lot assistance will I get? (will I get some assist),” he requested on the finish of the dialog.
At Ghonewala village in Amritsar, there are a number of instances of floods breaching embankments alongside farmlands and inflicting the fields to be lined with silt. Whereas some fields are nonetheless utterly stuffed with floodwaters, others have standing paddy, however the produce has been affected.
Surjeet Singh, 47, stands subsequent to his one-acre discipline, most of which became a deep pit as a result of breach. “Simply in our village, the bond has damaged in about 10 totally different areas. An identical scenario prevails in each village on this belt near the river,” he stated.
On the village, a number of gurdwara committees are helping in rebuilding the damaged embankments, even because the affected farmers wait for presidency help.
mounting debt
Nishand Singh, 40, stands subsequent to his nine-acre discipline, a part of which remains to be flooded whereas the paddy crop stands on the relaxation. “The standing crops have little or no grain. I should plow it again into the soil. There isn’t any level in spending cash on harvesting it.”
The farmer stated that he had taken ₹7-lakh mortgage from a financial institution, however the ₹2.5 lakh he has borrowed from a intermediary will damage him extra because it got here at an rate of interest of 24% every year.
“The State and the Central governments have completed nothing to date. The official equipment is totally lacking from the bottom. No compensation has been given but. Solely an announcement has been made; that too is simply too little,” stated Baljit Singh Grewal, basic secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (Punjab unit).
Mr. Grewal stated that the federal government ought to instantly distribute the compensation in money, as farmers are reeling below extreme misery.
“Farmer unions and most people are stepping ahead to repair the damaged embankments whereas officers are nowhere to be seen,” he stated.
In Paharipur village of Pathankot, floodwaters have receded from the fields, however farmers say the standing crops appear fantastic solely from a distance.
Printed – October 11, 2025 03:33 am IST