Delay in border demining hits farmers

NEW DELHI: Harcharan Singh Pattu,sarpanch of Khemkaran village in Punjab is a disillusioned man. His six-acrefarm along the Indo-Pak border was mined by the Army at the launch of OperationParakram. He''s still waiting for it to be de-mined. "It has been 14months since the army took over my land. I was given compensation for lastyear''s wheat crop at the rate of Rs 11,000 per acre. How far will this moneytaken me? I have 12 family members and eight heads of cattle to feed. I havelost three crops since last January and am awaiting further compensation," hesays. There are thousands of farmers like him along the border. TakeNirmal Singh of Rajocanna village in Punjab. "Farming is my only source oflivelihood. How can I survive if the army does not give us quick compensation ona per crop basis?" Army sources confirm it took over 70,000 hectaresof land; more than one-third of cultivable land was mined with an estimated onemillion mines. And they admit, so far only 30 per cent of land has beende-mined. Simranjit Singh Mann, MP, says, "The compensation beingdemanded by the farmers runs into several crores. So far, they''ve not receivedeven a quarter of this amount." The Centre has sanctionedcompensation of Rs 66 crore and Rs 54 crore for Punjab and Rajasthanrespectively. An MoD spokesman said, "Compensation will be given on the basis ofassessments made by district officials." The farmers contend thatonly 10 per cent have received compensation. The army''s figures are way abovethis: 70 per cent in Punjab, 50 per cent in Rajasthan and 40 per cent inJ&K. Another worry for the farmers is the time-frame of thede-mining exercise. They want their fields back soon. Unfortunately, the army isreported to have de-mined the 20,000 hectare stretch from Kashmir to Rajasthanusing vintage ND-Mark 11 and Mark-V mines.