Wheat on 15 acres gutted in Barnala villages
BARNALA:STANDING wheat crop in 15 acres, was burnt in a few villages of the district on Friday. Stubble on over 160 acres was also gutted. “Over 160 acres of wheat stubble was destroyed and another 15 acres of wheat crop was gutted at Kirpalsingh Wala, Gangohar and Nihaluwal villages,” said Rachpal Singh Khosa, chief agriculture officer.
While farmers said fire spread due to spark in power wires due to strong winds, the DC said it was due to a blast in a tractor’s battery at Handiaya. “It was not a sparking case. Explosion in a tractor’s battery in a field at the time of the incident, was the reason behind the fire,” said DC Dharam Pal Gupta. The DC said no wheat but stubble was destroyed in the incident. “SSP Harjeet Singh and I visited villages where crops were gutted. Around 80 to 100 acres of wheat stubble was burnt, but there were no reports of damage to crop anywhere in the district.”
Fire officer Gurjeet Singh said, “The fire, which spread fast due to winds gutted crops in the district. Fire tenders from Barnala, Halwara, Barnala Air Force Station and Ludhiana were pressed into service.” He added that due to strong winds in the area, fire spread to other villages of the district — Gangohar, Hamidi, Kirpal Singh Wala, Daddahoor villages besides Bajakhana road, Bathinda bypass road and Trident Factory road.
A farmer Jagsir Singh Dult of Handiaya said, “Sparking in a power wire led to the fire. I sustained a loss of over ₹2 lakh with 4.5 acre of my wheat crop getting damaged and another 15-acre stubble turning into ashes.”
CROP DESTROYED IN 10 PATIALA VILLAGES
NABHA: Incidents of fire engulfing fields due to strong winds were reported from over 10 villages of Patiala district. Patiala villages — Raisal, Gobindpura, Mallewal, Puniawala, Tohra, Khanaura, Kalsna, Raimalmajri, other surrounding villages — were affected, sources said. The source of fire wasn’t ascertained. However, it was controlled before it spread to the Bir Bhadson wildlife sanctuary.
SDM Jashanpreet Kaur said it was difficult to assess the loss. “Compensation will be assessed after loss is verified by officials. No loss of life or harm to any house was reported,” she added. However, the BKU (Rajewal) claimed that over 250 acre of crop, including standing wheat crop, was destroyed.