📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Richard Humphrey
Agriculture
Waterlogging Destroys Paddy Stocks in Fazilka, Ambala, Farmers Cite Poor Drainage
✍️ The Economic Times
🗓 12 Oct 2026, 05:47 PM
👁 10
Heavy waterlogging has ruined stored paddy in Fazilka (Punjab) and Ambala (Haryana), with farmers blaming inadequate drainage systems.
Heavy rains this week caused water to accumulate in low‑lying fields across Fazilka in Punjab and Ambala in Haryana, submerging stored paddy bags and causing extensive loss. Local farmers reported that the water could not recede due to insufficient drainage channels, turning the grain heaps into soggy, unusable stock.
The affected growers estimate that several hundred tonnes of paddy have been compromised, threatening their seasonal income and raising concerns about food‑grain availability in the region. Agricultural officials from the state departments have been notified, but no immediate relief measures have been announced.
Experts say that chronic waterlogging in these districts stems from outdated irrigation infrastructure and encroachment on natural watercourses. They urge authorities to prioritize drainage upgrades before the next monsoon to safeguard crops and prevent similar losses in the future.
The affected growers estimate that several hundred tonnes of paddy have been compromised, threatening their seasonal income and raising concerns about food‑grain availability in the region. Agricultural officials from the state departments have been notified, but no immediate relief measures have been announced.
Experts say that chronic waterlogging in these districts stems from outdated irrigation infrastructure and encroachment on natural watercourses. They urge authorities to prioritize drainage upgrades before the next monsoon to safeguard crops and prevent similar losses in the future.