Congress leader Hooda visits rain-affected areas in Haryana's Yamunanagar

Yamunanagar, Sep 11 (PTI) Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda Thursday said that 17 lakh acres of standing crops of farmers in Haryana have been destroyed due to floods, with about 5,000 villages, 11 cities, 72 towns and hundreds of wards being affected.

"The situation is worse than the natural disaster of 1995. Therefore, the BJP government should declare Haryana a flood-affected state and the central government should immediately announce a special package.

"The prime minister and the Union agriculture minister should also take stock of the damage caused in Haryana like Punjab. The central leaders not coming to Haryana shows the big failure of the state government," the former chief minister alleged.

Hooda Thursday visited various affected areas, including Bambholi, Bibipur, Odri, Lapra, Kamalpur of Yamunanagar, by driving a tractor.

He listened to the problems of the people, who told him that all the crops standing in the field have been completely ruined by the floods. People of the area told Hooda that the standing sugarcane crop has been uprooted, and all crops, including paddy, have been waterlogged.

So much sand has come in the fields that even if the water dries up, it would be impossible to harvest the next season's crop, they told him, according to a statement.

Hooda alleged that illegal mining was responsible for so much sand getting deposited in the entire area. Mining mafias have done so much illegal mining that the course of the Yamuna river has changed. Due to this, many villages of the area get hit by floods every time, farmers told Hooda, according to the statement.

Hooda said that the way the BJP government in the state has announced compensation for the flood/waterlogged-affected people is like a "drop in the ocean''.

"Farmers should get at least Rs 60-70,000 per acre as compensation instead of Rs 15,000 per acre. Thousands of houses, shops, buildings and other establishments of people have been damaged. Appropriate compensation should also be announced to compensate for all this," he said.

He said that the government should immediately get 'Special Girdawari' (survey) done and provide financial help to the farmers. PTI SUN MNK MNK