Amritsar, Oct 18 Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Vikramjit Singh Sahney on Saturday inaugurated a de-watering facility at Jattan village in Ramdas block of Amritsar that is aimed at removing floodwater from over 150 acres of agricultural land submerged during the recent floods.
The newly established system is supported by nearly a four-km-long network of pipelines, which will channel logged water out of the farmland, enabling farmers to resume cultivation and protect soil productivity.
This initiative is undertaken by Vikramjit Singh Sahney’s NGO Sun Foundation and is expected to bring major relief to dozens of families whose livelihoods were disrupted by prolonged waterlogging.
Sahney also distributed rehabilitation kits to affected families of the village, which include beds, mattresses, kitchen sets, furniture, rations, fogging machines, etc. Sahney stated that the de-watering project is a step towards restoring normalcy for the farmers.
“No farmer should suffer due to natural calamities, and timely action is essential to safeguard agricultural livelihoods.”
He also reaffirmed his commitment to continuing similar interventions in other flood-affected areas of Punjab.
The residents and farmers extended their gratitude to Sahney for his prompt support. The Punjab Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, this week gave a nod for enhancing the compensation for crop loss to farmers up to Rs 20, 000 per acre.
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister’s Office said that to provide adequate relief to the affected persons for crop loss and house damage caused by natural calamities, the Cabinet also gave nod to ex-post facto approval regarding the revision of the rates of relief amount to be paid from the State Budget for crop loss and house damage.
As the state has faced severe floods so the relief amount was increased to Rs 10,000 per acre for crop loss of 26-75 per cent, Rs 20,000 per acre for crop loss of 76-100 per cent, and Rs 40,000 per unit for partially damaged houses from the existing Rs 6,500.
Since the amount given from the SDRF (State Disaster Response Fund) by the government of India will not be increased, this additional compensation will be provided by the state from its own treasury.
--IANS
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