Going by the issues that politicians are raising in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, it seems that waterlogging in the Fazilka district is not their priority. Swathes of agricultural land in Khuyiansarwer and Abohar blocks of the district are inundated with water. With no government help, all farmers pray for is a dry spell. The Punjab Government had sought Rs 3,277 crore more from the central agencies to bail out scores of villages affected by waterlogging. Nevertheless, funds received under the disaster management programme were not utilised properly. On December 8, 2013, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the state government would launch a project to address the problem. He said the state had prepared a ~3,277-crore project. On November 6, 2013, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said at Dhippanwali village near Fazilka that the government was preparing a comprehensive plan with the assistance of technical and irrigation professionals to deal with waterlogging, which was affecting farmers badly on the economic front. On September 15, 2013, the senior Badal said at Sappanwali village near Abohar that waterlogging not only damaged crops, but also turned into a wider socio-economic problem. On September 5, 2012, officers of the Drainage Department had told the Chief Minister at Wahabwala village that proposals for widening and strengthening the drainage system in Abohar and neighbouring areas had been hanging fire for five years. They minced no words in conceding that water diverted from the Lambi area through the Abulkhurana drain was to be blamed for damaging crops in the Balluana Assembly segment. A dozen villages, including Bahawalbasi, Kerakhera, Dhaba Kokrian, Jodhpur, Gaddandob, Ramgarh and Alamgarh, have been affected as the state government failed to bail them out. Former legislator Parkash Singh Bhatti laid the foundation of NABARD-funded ~1.25-crore schemes for lift pumps in Bahawalbasi village on December 17, 2006. The project was inaugurated by SAD legislator Gurtej Singh Ghuriana on February 7, 2009. But the lift pump itself remains submerged in water. Farmers told Congress nominee Sunil Jakhar during his campaign that they had been unable to grow crops for the past five to six years. Women said they have been waiting for benefits under old-age and widow pension and shagun scheme for the past five years. No official was ready to investigate into complaints about siphoning off funds earmarked under the MNREGA and other centrally sponsored schemes, they alleged. “There has been a partisan attitude in carrying out development projects. SAD workers are out to pocket money,” Jakhar alleged. He said it pained him to see that the state government preferred to blame the Centre than utilise funds received from Delhi. Problems to the fore Agricultural land in Khuyiansarwer and Abohar blocks is inundated With no government help, all farmers pray for is a dry spell Jakhar alleges there has been a partisan attitude in carrying out development projects