Canal breach submerges 200 acres of Mansa wheat fields

Wheat crop sown over more than 200 acres in three villages of the district have got inundated after a canal breach near Bhamme Kalan village on Wednesday morning.

With wheat sowing in the region having already got delayed due to smog and moisture in fields, farmers blamed the irrigation department for stopping the canal water supply in the last few months.

The water supply for irrigation was stopped till last month due to cleaning of canal.

“The irrigation department cleaned the canal recently. Had it been cleaned and repaired properly, there would not have been any breach,” said Gurmail Singh of Sahnewali village.

Already apprehensive of a low wheat yield due to delay in sowing, the farmers feel that waterlogging will further damage the crop. “We face this problem every year and the district administration does not even bother to repair it,” said a farmer who was busy collecting polythene bags to stop water flow.

Waterlogging had damaged the cotton and paddy crops the previous season and farmers have not been compensated for their loss.

When contacted, deputy commissioner Dharam Pal Gupta asked HT reporter to speak to irrigation department officials on the issue. Irrigation department executive engineer Kartar Chand blamed the farmers for creating blockages in the water course which leads to overflow and subsequent inundation of fields.