Over 5,300 Acres Washed Away in Floods; Paddy Procurement Issues Copy

Over 5,300 acres of land, spread across 15 of the 23 districts in Panjab, has been washed away in the recent floods that ravaged the state in August–September 2025. The maximum land was washed away in Amritsar (1,515 acres), followed by Ferozepur (1,101 acres), Gurdaspur (544 acres), Nawanshahr (539 acres), Kapurthala (376 acres), Ludhiana (264 acres), Fazilka (244 acres), Mohali (208 acres), Pathankot (118 acres) and Jalandhar (100 acres). In each of Tarn Taran, Patiala, Hoshiarpur, and Moga districts, less than 100 acres of land was washed away. On 23 Oct, a socio-political organization Misl Satluj, demanded the government allot land to those who have lost land and offer better compensation for those affected by the floods. President of Misl Satluj Ajaypal Singh Brar said, 'People with unregistered land are facing a double issue. No inspection is done on their land and they do not get any compensation for their farmland they have been tilling since 1947.' Meanwhile, the Panjab government has decided to carry out desilting operations at 85 sites in rivers Ravi and Satluj. The government estimates the deposits at 19K million cubic feet is worth USD 95M. But the state government’s scheme that farmers own the sand in their fields has led to a steep 30-35% fall in sand prices. Concurrently, just 6420 MT of paddy has been procured in more than a month since paddy procurement started in Panjab. Farmers are complaining despite low moisture paddy being available in grain markets for the last 10-15 days, it is not being procured. Also, rice shellers are now storing hybrid paddy varieties. In 2024, the same shellers had claimed the hybrid variety had a lower Out Turn Ratio (OTR), the proportion of rice obtained from paddy after milling, than what is mandated by the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The FCI requires a minimum OTR of 67%, while the yield had only 60-63% OTR. The reason is shellers are worried they won’t have enough paddy to keep their mills running. They prefer buying hybrid paddy than facing a shortfall, even as the OTR might be slightly lower (earlier coverage).