Punjab, one of the worst drought-hit states, will ask the Union Government to pay it Rs 400 crore immediately to help farmers and urban settlements tide over the crisis.
Punjab has already announced a special “girdawari” from August 10 to 25 to assess the loss caused to crops due to drought after which relief to the affected farmers will be given.
The Agriculture Ministers of 11 drought-hit states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, UP, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will hold a meeting tomorrow with their union counterpart, Mr Ajit Singh, in Delhi.
Punjab Agriculture Minister, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and her deputy, Mr Amarjit Singh Samra, today left for Delhi. However, senior officers of the Development and Revenue Department would leave for Delhi early tomorrow. They remained busy today preparing the state’s case.
Informed official sources told TNS today that the state had Rs 236 crore in its calamity relief fund. But it would ask the Centre to give a special Rs 400-crore package to tackle the situation.
Punjab has prepared its case taking into count various sectors affected by the drought the main among them being agriculture, horticulture, dairying, livestock and urban settlements. The state government would be able to brief the meeting about the drought impact on the basis of the report submitted by the Chief Agriculture Officers and Deputy Commissioners to the state headquarters.
The loss varies from area to area. There is a report that over 250 hectares of paddy has been removed by farmers. Besides, there is a vast rainfed area in the kandi belt which has remained unsown so far in the absence of rain. Moreover, the paddy crop in a vast area has come under stress. Its yield level is bound to go down even in case of a good rainfall. In fact, a fall in the paddy production will hit the entire economy of the state.
Farmers had to sell their milch cattle at throwaway prices as green fodder was not available, making most such cattle dry. As a result, the dairy sector has been affected substantially.
Dropping of fruit has been reported from orchards in the Abohar- Fazilka belt. Those who got the orchards on contract have reportedly represented their case to the government.
Drought has caused a major damage to the tubewell irrigation network in rural areas and the drinking water network in urban areas. A large number of tubewells, which were used to provide drinking water in urban areas and water for irrigation in rural areas have become redundant as the subsoil water level has gone down drastically and there was little of hope recharging the subsoil water reservoirs in the existing situation. The Jalandhar Municipal Corporation has sought the government for financial help to make their tubewell system functional. Same is the case of other local bodies.
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