The devastating floods that swept through the villages of Sultanpur Lodhi have left behind a trail of destruction, with farmers now facing insurmountable debt and the loss of their livelihoods. The personal tragedies of these farmers highlight the severe impact of the disaster on Punjab’s agrarian community.
Balkar Singh, a 60-year-old marginal farmer from Bandu Jadid village, lost his entire crop on 3 acres of his own land and 4 acres he had taken on rent. The floodwaters also destroyed his one-room house. Singh, who was already under a ₹1.5 lakh bank loan, is now left with no means to repay it. “I had taken a loan, hoping the crops would help me repay it. Now everything is gone,” he said. He expressed heartbreak over the sight of his inundated fields, now covered in silt, making it nearly impossible to grow the next crop.
The crisis is not isolated. At Baupur village, Gurpreet Singh, who farms 30 acres of land, faces a monumental debt of ₹20 lakh after his entire crop was destroyed. “With the crop gone, it feels impossible to manage anything,” he said, expressing concern for his two school-going children. Similarly, Jaswant Singh lost his crop on 4 acres and is worried about managing his family’s essential needs, including his wife’s monthly medicines.
According to available data, standing crops on around 4.81 lakh acres across the state have been damaged by the floods, with Kapurthala district alone accounting for 43,936 acres. The floods have affected 149 villages in the district. The farmers are currently dependent on aid from NGOs for survival and are pinning their hopes on government compensation to help them rebuild their lives.