Finance Commission team inspects waterlogged areas

Finance Commission team inspects waterlogged areas
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, December 5
A two-member team of the 13th Finance Commission of India including its chairman Vijay Kelkar and member Atul Sharma, along with Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal and officials of various departments today visited Muktsar, the home district of the chief minister, to take first-hand information about the two major problems: waterlogging and salinity of drinking water.
The team, reportedly on the request of the state government, toured the district to get an account of the magnitude of the problems which have been affecting adversely the normal life of the people.
The state government had demanded substantial financial help to get rid of the two festering problems.
Talking to the media, Chairman Vijay Kelkar said that after analysing the proposal and getting a first-hand account, they would submit their recommendations to the Union government for a final decision.
The team, after landing in the CM’s chopper, reached the Rajasthan and Sirhind feeders on the Malout-Dabwali national highway in a large cavalcade.
There, it had an interaction with the farmers whose land is among the worst affected due to seepage from the canals.
Inspecting the inundated fields, adjoining the feeders, the team expressed concern over their plight.
Before leaving the spot, the team appeared to be surprised seeing the number of motor pumps running to drain out the water accumulated in the fields.
The team then moved to village Channu in Lambi assembly constituency, where out of the total 5000 acres of land, 2000 acres have been affected by waterlogging.
Interacting with the farmers gathered there, the team assured its due support.
Manpreet Badal, speaking at the venue, apprised the farmers that the state government had submitted a proposal to the Finance Commission, in which it has been recommended that the feeders should be covered with polythene at the base, so that the seepage could be stopped.
For this, money in crores was required and the Finance Commission, after going through the details, would recommend the Union government to take action.
The team then surveyed the drinking water problem in the district. It halted at village Kotbhai, where the officials inspected a reverse osmosis (RO) plant set up to treat the groundwater.
The team quizzed the local officials about the salinity level of the groundwater.
Officials of the district administration submitted detailed reports of a recent survey conducted by an IAS officer, Mohammad Tayyab.
However, due to some communication gap, villagers, who had gathered there to express their grievances, could not get the chance to speak.
Manpreet Badal presented traditional phulkari to the visiting members of the
Finance Commission and the bureaucrats of the public health, water supply and
irrigation departments.
The team was accompanied by Commissioner, Ferozepur division, B.K. Sudan, DIG R.P. Mittal, DC Muktsar Rajat Aggarwal and SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill.