Even as water has receded from a lot of the affected areas, farmers’ woes are removed from over because the sand deposited by the floods poses a severe menace to the standing paddy crop, leaving hundreds of cultivators of northern districts excessive and dry.

After the water receded, farmers are going through one other problem of defending the crop from the influence of floodwater. They are actually digging roads, pumping out extra water and utilizing fertilizers to guard the crop from sand.

Reports from the flood-affected areas of Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Yamunanagar districts, revealed that the influence of alluvium silt left behind by the floodwaters on an enormous chunk of space beneath paddy cultivation is extreme as farmers of the area are fearing complete injury to their crops on account of water stagnation.

“My paddy on four acres has been damaged,” stated farmer Ram Pal of Radaur, Yamunanagar.

Another farmer, Madan Lal from Karnal’s Indri stated, “My crop on eight acres was under four feet water for the past one week. Besides the rent, I have already spent around 12,000 per acre on puddling, transplantation and fertilizers to nurture the crop. Though the water has receded, the impact on the crop is so severe that we fear the crop won’t survive.”

Furthermore, farmers were also spending on diesel to pump out floodwater from their fields.

I spent 7,000 on diesel to pump out the excess water from my three acres of paddy but the crop on two acres has already been damaged and now we have to sow the crop again,” said another farmer, Kuldeep Singh.

The affected farmers, however, said that the paddy transplantation could be done by the first week of August, but the availability of nursery and labor is a big challenge and farmers are now spending 3,000 to 4,000 to get paddy nursery for one acre.

Nirmal Singh, a farmer leader associated with BKU (Charuni), said around 80% of the paddy transplantation was completed. But a huge area under the paddy has been damaged by the flood. It is challenging for farmers to get a nursery. “Also, if they sow today, it will take about a month to get ready for transplantation. Getting required labor for the task is another challenge,” he added.

Farmers have been ready for the federal government to announce monetary help for which a particular girdawari is required.

Though the precise crop loss might be ascertained solely after the particular girdawari, the preliminary stories recommend injury to five lakh acres of standing crop in Kurukshetra, Ambala, Kaithal, Karnal, Ambala and Yamunanagar districts.

“As per our assessment, around 50,000 acres of paddy in Kaithal district have suffered 100% loss. Now farmers are left with no other option but to sow the crop again,” stated Karam Chand, deputy director agriculture and farmers welfare division, Kaithal.