The Punjab Government has announced a new decision to help flood-hit farmers. Farmers will now be allowed to sell sand deposited in their fields after the recent floods. The Cabinet will approve changes in the state’s mining policy in a meeting on Monday.
AAP leader and Punjab affairs in-charge Manish Sisodia shared this update in a press conference. The move comes as lakhs of acres have become uncultivable due to heavy deposits of sand and silt brought by the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers. Farmers already struggling with huge losses will get some financial relief from selling the sand.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who is recovering from a bacterial infection in a Mohali hospital, will attend the Cabinet meeting via video call. Sisodia said the CM is concerned about the massive damage to crops like paddy, cotton, maize, and sugarcane across 4.3 lakh acres.
Farmers from Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur told Sisodia that selling the sand is the only way to recover losses. The CM has agreed to make policy changes quickly so that farmers can extract and sell sand from their fields without delay.
