Overflowing Buddha Nullah damages crops over 22 acres
LUDHIANA : A heavy downpour in and around Ludhiana in the last two days has brought misery to farmers at Baranhara Talwara village, located on the banks of the Buddha Nullah.
Paddy, pumpkin crops grown on 22 acres of land have been damaged by the toxic water that flowed through their fields after the walls of the banks of the nullah broke as a result of heavy rain on Tuesday.
The farmers are now up in arms against the administration for its failure to clean the nullah before monsoon. Also no compensation is provided to them even as they suffered losses in lakhs.
The farmers slammed the state government for making tall claims to save farmers in the state but doing nothing on the ground. They said even after a day after the nullah overflowed nothing has been done to repair its banks.
A 35-year-old farmer, Gurdeep Singh, is in a state of despair. The paddy crop sown on 11 acres of his land at Baranhara Talwara got damaged in the polluted nullah water that is filled with chemicals. “Our farms are full of dirt and garbage. Not only the nullah but the Balloke treatment plant also overflows frequently due to which the crop gets damaged. I am facing this problem for last three years but no administration official is paying heed to this,” he said.
Lovepreet Singh, another farmer, said he and his uncle have sown paddy on 10 acres of land but the crop got completely damaged. Not only this, the soil underneath three acres of land has also eroded after the nullah overflowed, he said. Already under debt, Surjit Singh lost his pumpkin crop sown on an acre.
Mayor Balkar Sandhu said the visited sewage treatment plant at Balloke and directed the staff to check the flow of water in the drain.
NULLAH BANKS ARE INTACT: DC
Ludhiana deputy commissioner Pardeep Agrawal said as per the ground staff’s report, the nullah banks are intact but the polluted water entered the fields as it overflowed.
“The drainage department is working to clean the nullah and I have directed the staff to put sand bags at the banks of the nullah to stop water from overflowing,” he said.
“I have asked the officials to inspect the spot, following which compensation will be provided,” he added.