The festival of Baisakhi turned a nightmare for many farmers in Moga district on Wednesday with fires playing havoc with their crops.Standing wheat crop on 443 acres in Moga, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib was destroyed in the fires.As per reports, the wheat crop, spread over more than 300 acres, was gutted in fires at Dhurkot Ransihn and its adjoining villages in the Nihalsinghwala sub-division of the district.The local people said that the fire broke out from the power lines passing over the fields allegedly due to short circuit.They alleged that many persons made phone calls to the fire brigade at the district headquarters in Moga immediately after the fire broke out, but the fire tenders reached the spot after the fire was controlled by the people with the limited resources available with them. Some people also alleged that the officials of the fire brigade did not attend their calls.Hardev Singh, who suffered heavy losses on 45 acres, said that most of the local people in the area had gone to Talwandi Sabo in nearby Bathinda district to celebrate Baisakhi, pay obeisance at the historic shrine of Damdama Sahib and participate in the public rallies conducted by the political parties, therefore the male population was very less at Dhurkot and its adjoining villages.Anyhow, more than 200 people gathered on the spot and tried to control the fire with locally available resources — water, sand and tree branches.The SHO of Nihalsinghwala police station Dilbagh Singh also reached the spot along with police force. Ambulances of the Health Department were summoned as a preventive measure.Farmers Jagdev Singh suffered losses on 50 acres, Soni over 30 acres, Jaswinder Singh on 3 acres and Bara Singh on 5 acres. The standing wheat crop of many other farmers was also gutted.In another incident, wheat crop on 11 acres was destroyed by fire at Rania village in the district.On April 9, wheat crop on 5 acres at Daudhar Garbi village in the district was also damaged.Sangrur: On Baisakhi, the standing wheat crop on about 135 acres was gutted in fire in Sohian Kalan village (near Sangrur), Bir Kalan village and Cheema village (near Sunam), and Khadial village and Mehlan village (Sunam).The villagers, showing solidarity and exemplary courage, controlled and extinguished the fire. The cause behind the fires in Bir Kalan, Cheema, Khadial and Mehlan villages could not be ascertained.In Sohian Kalan village (near Sangrur), standing wheat crop on about 50 acres was gutted in a fire this afternoon. The fire was reportedly controlled and extinguished by villagers and a fire tender.Sangrur Tehsildar Manmohan Singh said this evening that according to preliminary information, the fire started due to sparking in power lines. He said a Patwari had been deputed to assess the area where the damage had taken place.In the fields of Bir Kalan and Cheema villages, wheat crop of about six farmers, including Darshan Singh and Nirmal Singh, on about 40 acres went up in flames.Rajwant Singh, Station House Officer (SHO) of Cheema police station, said that the villagers controlled and extinguished the fire by using tractors even before the arrival of a fire tender from Sangrur.He said the villagers also demanded that during the wheat harvesting season, a fire tender should be parked at Sunam to meet any emergency.Standing wheat crop of five farmers on about 25 acres in Khadial village suffered the same fate. Besides, wheat crop on about 20 acres was also gutted in a fire at Mehlan village.Subegh Singh, Station House Officer, Chhajli police station, who reached the fire sites, said that the crop of about 10 farmers had been destroyed in fire in both villages. Source - tribuneindia.com