Farmers protest over canal water shortage

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 8

Perturbed over the shortage of canal water for irrigation, hundreds of farmers, under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, staged a protest outside the irrigation office here on Monday. They said the area under canal irrigation had gone down drastically due to the collapse of the canal irrigation system in the state.

The farmers said that in the absence of desilting of canal minors, such as Kasoor branch, Jandoke minor, Sabrawo branch, Dubli, Jand minor, Pahuwind, Kalra, Saido and Majitha circle, they didn’t get adequate water. When crop is ripe, canal water, due to lack of upkeep, enters their fields through breaches and damages the crop.

Farmer leader Sawinder Singh Chautala said the government should rebuild the irrigation system so that their dependence on groundwater may be reduced. “Punjab is not able to use whatever little water it has been allotted due to the collapse of irrigation channels. If farmers start getting canal water, they will use tubewells only in case of emergency, but presently they are totally dependent on tubewells,” he said.

Sarwan Singh Pandher, another member of the union, said, “The government has also failed to provide any viable alternative to the paddy crop.

Against the common perception, farmers are very much concerned about the issue of water table but the government is not doing enough.” He said the government should invest on rejuvenating canal irrigation system as it would help in saving the groundwater.

The union also demanded that the land of the Irrigation Department, which had been encroached, should be identified, vacated and trees should be planted on them. The union also demanded that the practice of throwing waste water of residential areas and factories into irrigation minors should be checked. The union also demanded that the water recharging plant near Rasoolpur be made functional immediately. The plant has been lying unused for years.