CHANDIGARH: Farmers living along the Punjab border appear to be fed with the government’s lack of concern for their cultivable land that lies sandwiched between the barbed-wire fence along the International Border and the Zero Line.
These farmers say they are ready to sell their land. Representatives of these farmers on Monday met DG BSF Pankaj Kumar Singh and raised the hardships being faced by them. They cited restrictions imposed by the Border Security Force, the destruction of their crops by stray animals from Pakistan and the lack of irrigation facilities.
Singh has reportedly agreed to form a joint committee to look into these issues. The swathe of agricultural land measures around 21,600 acres, where farmers belonging to 220 villages on the Indian side plough their fields.
The meeting between a team of the Punjab Border Area Kisan Union (PBAKU) led by its president Raghubir Singh Bhangala and vice president Surjit Singh Bhoora and the DG BSF took place in Delhi.
“We have been facing several difficulties while cultivating our land. Due to the flashlights installed to keep vigil at the Intentional Border, our crops up to the 100-meter area are damaged for which we don’t get any compensation,” Bhoora told this newspaper.
He said stray animals from Pakistan intrude into the fields and destroy most of the crops. “To prevent animal intrusion, a barbed wire should be put up near the border. There are two pathways along both sides of the barbed fence which are used by BSF. At some places, BSF does not allow us to use these passages,” he says.