SAYS ILLEGAL MINING HAD ALSO WEAKENED RIVER EMBANKMENTS
Raj Sadosh/Abohar.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann to waive off interest on loans taken by farmers for one year in view of the huge losses suffered by them in the ongoing floods.
The SAD president, while visiting flood affected villages in Fazilka and Jalalabad, distributed ration as well as fodder for milch animals. As farmers told him that they would not be able to pay their loans, Badal requested the government to at least waive off interest on farmer loans. He said some farmers also told him that they were not being given any compensation for crop losses as their lands were not registered in their names and appealed to the government to ensure compensation was paid to those who were tilling unregistered land along the river beds.
He said that heavy rain had been compounded by the Aam Aadmi Party government’s failure to undertake flood protection works including cleaning of drains before the advent of the monsoons. He said earlier during the tenure of Parkash Singh Badal flood protection works were undertaken four months before the monsoon season started. He said neither were ‘bundhs’ strengthened nor drains cleaned of silt and weed. He also highlighted now illegal mining along the river beds had weakened the embankments and resulted in fissures and breaches.
The SAD president rode a tractor to reach marooned villages in heavy rain and interacted with the people, he was received with open arms by Sarpanches and Panches.