Promised water supply, BKU members end stir

Our Correspondent

Abohar, august 1

Farmers, who had been staging a dharna at the railway overbridge (RoB) on the Abohar-Hanumangarh state highway for the past 11 days, yesterday ended their stir after holding a meeting with senior officials of the Irrigation Department.

The dharna had led to disruption of interstate traffic besides creating problems for local residents as most of the colleges and schools are located on the other side of the RoB. The farmers removed their tents in the evening.

Bhartiya Kisan Union leaders said Superintending Engineer, Ferozepur, Rajesh Kumar promised to make sufficient canal water available to the villages located at the tail-end of the irrigation system in Abohar and Balluana segments. The officials reportedly agreed to start early cleaning of the Sirhind canal system, claiming there would be no dearth of funds from the state government.

PPCC ex-president Sunil Jakhar had earlier spoken to Irrigation Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department, Sarvjit Singh, and urged them to resolve the issue.