A five-acre farm on the connecting road in this village has a tubewell running non-stop for eight hours — the entire free power supply period — for the past three days, accumulating nearly 10 inches of water on the fields. Though such scenes appear a routine in rural Punjab in this part of the year, what’s shocking is tubewells pumping out water 10 days prior to the sowing of paddy.---

“Average power subsidy in Punjab is around Rs 10,000 per acre annually. However, in some parts of Sangrur, Barnala and Patiala where the water level is low, the subsidy touches Rs 15,000 to 20,000 per acre on an yearly basis,” says a senior PSPCL official.