Rains could have engulfed giant elements of Punjab, however over 200 villages in Muktsar and Fazilka districts, which principally rely upon canal water, on Tuesday stated they’re nonetheless in want of water for his or her crops. affected by scarcity.
Farmers who took their provides from Panjawa Minor, Abohar department and lengthy small canals in Muktsar and Fazilka stated that their crops have began withering attributable to lack of water. “It has not rained in our areas and most of the villages are on the back end of the canal system. Lack of water is an annual feature for them. I cultivate on 15 acres of land. I have a kinnow orchard and as per the government’s water distribution scheme, I should get enough water to irrigate at least three or four acres at a time. However, I am getting enough water to cover one acre of my farm these days. So, I need to draw water at least 15 times to irrigate my entire orchard which affects my crops,” stated Rajinder Singh, a farmer from Dharangwala village in Baluana constituency of Fazilka district.
He stated, “The region is dependent only on canal water as the groundwater is unfit for drinking. However, by the time they reach our region, only 50 per cent of the water is left in the canals. Hence, water scarcity is a common occurrence here.” On Monday, a gaggle of farmers from Lambi, Abohar and Baluana villages additionally staged a sit-in outdoors the workplace of the Executive Engineer (Canal Department) in Abohar and later blocked the bus stand street for 2-3 hours to attract consideration to their plight. blocked for .
Bhagwant Singh, who owns about 50 acres of land in Dharangwala village, stated, “Many farmers have grown fodder for his or her livestock of their fields which are actually drying up attributable to lack of water. We maintain dharna yearly for water shortage, but nobody cares, be it Akali or Congress.
The farmers additionally complained that neither the canals are cleaned totally by the authorities nor the total quota of water is launched in them, resulting in water shortage. At the identical time, many farmers additionally had pumps put in alongside the banks of the canals that assist them take away extra water from the canals, resulting in a scarcity of farmers on the finish of the canal.
Sometimes, stated Darshan Singh, one other farmer from Abohar, when it rains closely, the water pullers in the beginning of the canal block the entry of water into their fields. This in flip causes floods within the villages, fields that are on the finish of the canal.
“Canal water is insufficient for our crops, and therefore we are largely dependent on rain gods only as we cannot even use groundwater for irrigation. Drip irrigation methods were not adopted in the area as the government has ended the subsidy on it,” stated Rajinder Singh. Water shortage is regularly noticed in Baluana, Abohar, Jalalabad constituencies of Fazilka district and Lambi, Muktsar and Malout constituencies of Muktsar district of Punjab.
The Indian Express tried to get in contact with Mukhtiar Rana, government engineer, canal division, however he was not out there for touch upon the problem.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
