Panjab Starts Flood Compensation; Paddy Procurement Sees 2.4 MMT Shortfall

The Panjab government has distributed compensation to residents of three severely flood impacted villages—Alam Khanwala, Sherpur Dogra, and Passan Kadim—in Kapurthala district. The farmers have received USD 225 per acre for crop damage. So far, the Panjab government has provided compensation for all types of losses including damage to houses, crops, and livestock across a total of 1,143 villages in the state. However, for the past nearly two months, Manjit Kaur and her sister Raj Kaur, whose twin houses fell to the raging waters of the river Beas, have been spending days in a tent shack in the middle of fields at village Baupur. Like the sisters, the families of Hardev Singh and Bakhtaur (no second name), too, have been living at their relative's houses at the village Gurdwara. Ironically, while the devastation continues, illegal mining has started again. Despite repeated complaints and recent enforcement actions, illegal mining continues unchecked on the riverbeds of Anandpur Sahib and Nangal sub-divisions. While state mining laws permit mining only from dawn to dusk, the Swan and Sutlej riverbeds in Rupnagar district turn into sprawling illegal mining hubs every night. Concurrently, amid drop in arrivals, the Panjab Food and Civil Supplies Department has decided to wind up the paddy procurement operation this week. In 2025, the arrivals and the subsequent procurement have been the lowest in the past nine years. Against the estimated 18 MMT, only 15.6 MMT of paddy have been procured. This is a 2.4 MMT shortfall. In the previous five years, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020, total paddy procured stood at 17.5, 18.8, 18.3, 18.7, and 16.2 MMT. The floods and incessant rains in the month of August-September impacted the production with the loss in terms of grain quantity pegged at 15% of production, which in financial terms translates to nearly USD 1.13B . Last week, the Union ministry of Food and Public Distribution allowed relaxation in procurement norms by allowing the purchase of produce with up to 10% discolored and damaged grain, up from 5%. The relief came after the majority of the crop, 15 MMT, had already been procured (earlier coverage).