Sangrur, April 23: With the government not yet coming up with an announcement to award compensation to farmers who lost their crops to fire recently, residents of Ladda village here have decided to pool funds to provide relief to them.
The villagers have also decided to manufacture their own fire tenders by installing required equipment on mobile water tankers.
All villagers have decided not to donate wheat to any other village religious place and formed a committee comprising leaders of Congress, SAD, BKU Ugraha and other farmer organisations to collect wheat and dry fodder for the aggrieved farmers.
“I have not seen any farmer getting required compensation for his burnt crop. This year, we have decided to compensate our farmers on our own, instead of begging for any government help. All villagers would contribute to compensate the farmers for the loss of crop,” said Harbans Singh Ladda, BKU Ugraha Dhuri block leader.
Four days ago, a fire caused by alleged spark in electricity lines destroyed standing wheat in around 50 acres and stubble in 200 acres. Villagers alleged that their losses could have been less had the fire tenders reached on time.
“Fire tenders were busy in other villages and came late. We have decided to instal the required equipment on water tankers and use them as fire tenders in case of exigencies,” said Parmjit Singh Ladda, president of village Gram Sabha.
The village has a population of around 5,000.
Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
