Decade later, village reclaims land from waterlogging

Decade later, village reclaims land
from waterlogging
Smile back on faces of farmers
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Pakki Tibbi (Muktsar), June 6
After battling waterlogging for more than a decade, the farmers of this village now have a reason to smile as the efforts of the state government in collaboration with the Centre have started bearing fruit in tackling the problem that was a huge setback to farming in the area.

Considering the extremity of waterlogging in this village, about seven months back, the authorities concerned had come up with an innovative project of laying sub-surface drains in the low-lying agricultural fields to drain the excess water from the upper layer of the fields, so that the land, which was lying abandoned due to waterlogging, could be used for agricultural purposes.
Witnessing the huge trench digging machines along with other supportive equipment like excavators and bulldozers being used to lay collectors and laterals (pipes) beneath a specific level of soil, hardly anyone was sure about its success. But now, with the fields free from the menace of waterlogging, the success of the project has come as nothing short of a miracle for the villagers.
"I can not explain my happiness in words. After about a 14-year long period, this was the first season when I could see wheat crop in my fields, which were earlier lying barren. All this could take place due to the sub-surface channels, which drained the excess water in the fields and made it produce a bumper crop," shared Avtar Singh, a local farmer, his joy hard to conceal.
Giving more details about the project, the junior engineer (JE) of the drainage department Mohinder Singh said, "A number of laterals wrapped with geo-fabric filters were laid at a distance of 100 feet from one another, which had small holes to collect the extra water in the soil. The water pouring in the pipes goes to the linked broad pipes called collectors, which further discharge it in sump wells, from where it is finally pumped out into a surface drain."
Hailing the project, Balkar Singh, a local, said, "I do not know from where the problem of waterlogging entered our village a couple of years back and turned nearly 300 acres of agricultural land barren. After failing in all their attempts, the villagers had given up the hope that their land would be able to regain its fertility. It is a wonder that after an ample yield of wheat about a month back, the farmers have now sown cotton on the same land."
Showing the paddy seedlings in his field, which was once badly affected by waterlogging, a landholder Harpal Singh said, "This is the same land, where about two years back I had seen water about three-feet above the surface. And now, I have to irrigate it from a neighbouring water channel. When I shared news of this miracle with my relatives settled far off, they were surprised and congratulated me after paying a visit here."
It may be mentioned that Pakki Tibbi was not the only village, where the project was implemented. A number of other villages in Muktsar-the home district of the chief minister Parkash Singh Badal-were taken up under the project. In some villages, the project was completed, while in some, it is still waiting to see the light of the day.
It is learnt that the CM had earlier too taken such an initiative but it suffered a jolt when the SAD (B) lost the assembly polls in 2002. Now, the farmers of all the villages, where the project is yet to be completed, wish it gets completed before the next assembly polls, scheduled in 2012.