As winter tightens its grip, a ray of hope shines for farmers in Punjab's border belts who faced ruin after devastating floods. In a remarkable community-driven initiative, activists have stepped forward to undertake the herculean task of helping flood-marooned farmers sow their wheat crop. This effort is breathing life back into fields that were, until recently, covered under layers of silt and sand.
A Daunting Task: Reclaiming the Land from Silt
The scale of the challenge was immense. Following some of the worst floods in decades, fields in the border districts of Punjab were left highly uneven, with accumulations of silt and sand reaching up to three feet in certain areas. For farmers like Mohinder Singh from Teja Ruhela village in Fazilka district—situated close to the zero line with Pakistan—sowing wheat seemed an impossible dream in late September. The ground was either inundated or buried.
The farm organisation BKU Ekta Ugrahan launched a structured, three-phase relief and rehabilitation exercise. In the first phase, they provided immediate aid including food and shelter materials to people who had lost everything. The second phase involved the monumental job of land levelling. Activists mobilized 80 tractors and JCB machines to flatten the ravaged fields. This included nearly 50 acres of land located across the border fence, a sensitive and difficult area to operate in.
The Sowing Phase: A Race Against Time
Now, in the crucial third phase, the focus is on sowing wheat. Although this sowing is considered late, which carries a high risk of impacting final yield, it represents the only chance for farmers to salvage something from the season. With financial aid from philanthropists, the organisation has spent nearly Rs 2 crore, primarily on diesel and wheat seeds.
In Fazilka district alone, they distributed 4,700 bags of wheat seed (40 kg each) to affected farmers. The activists themselves have taken to the fields to ensure the sowing is completed. "So far, we have succeeded in sowing wheat in over 800 acres in Fazilka, while other teams are working similarly in the villages of Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts," said Shingara Singh Mann, secretary of BKU Ekta Ugrahan.
Comprehensive Aid for Border Districts
The support extended far beyond just field preparation. Organisation president Joginder Singh Ugrahan detailed the wide array of aid provided by donors. This included over 25,000 bags of wheat for food, 12,000 quintals of green fodder, and 1,428 quintals of cattle pickle for livestock. Essential household and winter items were also distributed on a large scale across multiple affected districts.
The comprehensive relief effort covered the districts of Fazilka, Ferozepur, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, and Ludhiana. The distributed items included 5,575 beddings, 7,896 blankets, 27,238 ladies' suits, 2,898 men's suits, along with woollen clothes and shoes for needy people.
For farmers like Mohinder Singh, this intervention has been nothing short of a lifeline. He reflects that it's easy to imagine the dire fate that would have awaited them had the farm organisation not stepped in. While the threat to the yield from late sowing remains, the act of getting wheat into the ground on 800 acres across 14 border villages in Fazilka is a powerful testament to collective action in the face of natural disaster.
