Fields of farmers in many parts of Haryana waterlogged leaving crops submerged: Hooda

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday claimed that fields in many parts of the state are waterlogged after recent rains leaving crops submerged, but the state government has not taken any steps to drain out the water.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, however, said all arrangements have been made by the state government to drain the excess water due to recent rains.

The Congress leader said farmers in many areas of the state including Kaithal, Hisar, Bhiwani, Ambala, Sirsa, Rohtak, Jind, Sonipat, Kurukshetra, Karnal and Fatehabad, have been hit by the problem of water logging.

''Thousands of acres of farmers' crops have been submerged. More than a week has gone by but the government did not take any steps for draining out the water from the fields. Due to the rains for the last few days, thousands of acres of paddy, cotton and jowar crops have been badly damaged.

''Heavy rain is predicted for coming days. In such a situation, farmers fear that this problem may amplify in days to come,'' Hooda said in a statement here.

Hooda, who is Leader of Opposition in the state, expressed fears that a large part of the farmer's crop will get submerged due to the inclement weather and due to the ''neglect'' of the government.

''This will have a major impact on the production of crops including paddy, cotton, sugarcane and jowar. This is going to add to the problems of the farmers who are already facing huge losses,'' he said.

He said the government should immediately get the 'Girdawari' (revenue survey) done and give compensation to the farmers.

He said proper drainage should be arranged at the earliest so that farmers can be saved from further losses.

Replying to questions by reporters here on the sidelines of an official meeting here, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said all arrangements have been made by the state government to drain the excess water due to recent rains. No farmer will have to face damage to their present crop, neither will they have to face problems while sowing their next crop on time, said Khattar.

Hooda said the farmer is facing the wrath of nature for the last several cropping seasons, but despite the announcement of the government and crop insurance scheme, they could not get the compensation. ''It is once again clear that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is not proving beneficial for the farmers,'' the Congress leader claimed.

''Data that came out in the public domain recently showed insurance companies have made a hefty profit of Rs 40,000 crores in just 5 years when farmers are constantly facing losses. To make matters worse, the government has also increased the insurance premium for many crops,'' Hooda said.

Hooda said the premium amount per acre for paddy has been increased from Rs 713.99 to Rs 749.69, for cotton from Rs 1731.50 to Rs 1819.12, for Bajra from Rs 335.99 to Rs 352.79 and for Maize from Rs 356.99 to Rs 374.85.

''Every season, premium is deducted from the farmer's account without his consent, but neither the government nor the company would come forward to give compensation,'' he alleged.

Hooda said the Committee on Agriculture in the Congress Navsankalp Manthan Shivir at Udaipur recently, had also mentioned about the crop insurance scheme in its recommendations.

The committee formed under Hooda's chairmanship had recommended that the government should take up the work of crop insurance.

''The government companies should insure instead of private companies, because private companies think only about their profits and not the welfare of farmers. This is the reason that today farmers are struggling to get compensation while companies are making profits of thousands of crores of rupees,'' he stated.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)