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Amritsar, Oct 18 (IANS) Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Vikramjit Singh Sahni on Saturday inaugurated a de-watering facility at Jattan village in Ramdas block of Amritsar, which aims to drain flood water from over 150 acres of agricultural land that was submerged during the recent floods.
The newly installed system is supported by an approximately four kilometer long network of pipelines, which will drain stagnant water out of the field, allowing farmers to resume farming and protecting soil productivity.
The initiative has been taken by Vikramjit Singh Sahni’s NGO Sun Foundation and is expected to provide major relief to dozens of families whose livelihoods were disrupted due to prolonged waterlogging.
Sahni also distributed rehabilitation kits to the affected families of the village, which include beds, mattresses, kitchen sets, furniture, ration, fogging machines etc. Sahni said the de-watering project is a step towards restoring normalcy for farmers.
“No farmer should suffer loss due to natural disasters, and timely action is necessary to protect agricultural livelihoods.”
He reaffirmed his commitment to continue similar interventions in other flood affected areas of Punjab.
Residents and farmers expressed their gratitude to Sahni for his prompt support. The Punjab Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, this week approved increasing crop loss compensation to farmers to Rs 20,000 per acre.
A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that in order to provide adequate relief to the affected persons for crop loss and house damage due to natural calamities, the Cabinet has given retrospective approval regarding revision in the rates of relief amount to be paid from the state budget for crop loss and house damage.
As the state faced severe floods, the relief amount has been increased to Rs 10,000 per acre for 26-75 per cent crop loss, Rs 20,000 per acre for 76-100 per cent crop loss and Rs 40,000 per unit for partially damaged houses from the existing Rs 6,500.
Since the amount to be provided by the Government of India from the SDRF (State Disaster Response Fund) will not be increased, this additional compensation will be provided by the State from its treasury.
–IANS
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