Chandigarh:- In a meeting of the cabinet headed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here today, farmers have been given approval to remove silt from the areas adjacent to the Sutlej and Ghaggar rivers. Farmers who own lands adjacent to these rivers will now be able to remove silt (desilting) from their lands. The Punjab government has identified 9 sensitive desilting sites, from where landowners will be allowed to do desilting at their own cost.
Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said after the meeting that during the floods last year, sand had entered the fields of farmers and at that time the ‘Jis da Khet, Us di Ret’ scheme was approved. He said that now 9 such areas adjacent to the Sutlej and Ghaggar rivers have been identified, from where landowners will be able to do desilting after getting approval. Cheema said that this step has been taken to protect against floods and to make advance arrangements.
According to the cabinet decision, farmers will be able to use the sand or soil extracted from their land free of cost as per their requirement and this permission has also been given to the farmers till 30th June 2026. The identified sites include Harsha Bela, Mandla Tajowal, Ruknewala, Khaira Bet, Burj Chahalan and Karali etc.
The Punjab Cabinet today also amended the Punjab Panchayati Raj Rules 1994, after which there will be a change in the rotation of reservation of elected chairman and vice-chairmen of the District Council. Finance Minister Cheema said that there has been a change in the delimitation of six districts of Punjab, whose villages have been exchanged with each other. Due to this exchange, the delimitation of six districts has also changed and there will also be a change in the reservation of chairman and vice-chairmen of the District Councils of these districts. The roster of reservation for chairmen and vice-chairmen of the district councils of Mohali, Patiala, Malerkotla, Sangrur, Ferozepur and Fazilka districts will be changed.