Canal supply suspended, cotton farmers in Bathinda, Mansa cry foul

Sameer Singh

Bathinda, April 17

The shortage of water has delayed the sowing of cotton crop in Bathinda and Mansa districts this season.

Likely to be restored soon

The water supply could not be restored in the canal due to the Baisakhi mela at Talwandi Sabo last week. After the cleaning work, the water supply is expected to be restored in the coming week. Shoukat Ahmed Parray, Bathinda DC

Farmers rued that as per the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) guidelines, the period between April 15 and May 15 is conducive for cotton cultivation to get a high yield, but the canal water has not been released yet, which will not only dealy the sowing, but will also affect the produce.

Now, farmer unions have threatened to launch a stir if the canal water is not restored soon. Apart from Bathinda, cotton farmers in Mansa district will also be affected with the inordinate delay.

Saroop Singh Sidhu, a cotton farmer and general secretary of the BKU (Lakhowal), said, “The cotton sowing is getting delayed this season as the Irrigation Department has not released the canal water into the Kotla branch. After the harvesting of mustard (increased cultivation this season) and the wheat crop, the fields have been lying empty but farmers are coerced to wait to start the cotton cultivation for the want of water.”

Another farmer from Kanakwal village Labh Singh said, “There are farmers who have started sowing cotton using power generators to draw out water from tubewells. As the prices of diesel are quite high, a majority of the farmers can’t afford to take this route.” Meanwhile, XEN, Mansa canal division, Jagmeet Singh Bhakar

said, “To start cleaning the canal, we have reduced the water to dry it out.”