DHARAMKOT: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to tell where was the certified wheat seed which it had announced to distribute in four lakh acres of land in flood hit areas of the State.
The SAD president, who initiated the distribution of 1000 quintals of certified wheat seed in Dharamkot and 800 quintals of seed in Shahkot, said wheat sowing had commenced and the AAP government should distribute the promised wheat seed to farmers immediately or it would be of no use to them. He said the SAD had earlier distributed 1000 quintals of seed in Ajnala and was committed to completing it’s “beej sewa” initiative by the end of the month. He said once this initiative was completed the party would start distribution of wheat to poor families in flood hit areas.
Asserting that the AAP government was failing distressed farmers, Mr Sukhbir Badal said chief minister. Bhagwant Mann had made a mockery of crop compensation by distributing Rs 1.16 crore under this head in Ajnala. “This amounts to giving a relief to farmers in 50 to 60 acres in more than a thousand villages in the constituency and does not cover even a fraction of the flood hit farmers”.
Mr Badal also spoke on how the AAP government had compounded the misery of farmers by not holding any flood prevention meetings, not released any funds for strengthening the Shahpur Kandi barrage and not regulating the water flow in the Ranjit Sagar dam. He said these events led to additional flooding as the gates of the Shahpur barrage collapsed and sudden release of two lakh cusecs of water for three consecutive days from the Ranjit Sagar dam flooded thousands of acres of land.
Mr Badal also thanked Akali workers for rising to the occasion and providing prompt succour to the flood hit be it plastic pipes, tarpaulins, food material, diesel and maize silage. He said in direct contrast no other party came to the aid of farmers in their moment of crisis.
Mr Badal also initiated distribution of 800 trolleys of maize silage in Shahkot. Senior leaders present on the occasion included Teerath Singh Mahla, Rajwinder Singh Dharamkot, Sunny Gill, Bachittar Singh Kohar, Baldev Khaira, Sarabjit Jhinjher , Harjap Sangha and Rajkamal Bhullar.