Canal water not released, farmers hold protest

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 16

Farmers from different villages staged a protest at Jhumba village on Sunday against officials for not releasing water from the Sirhind canal. Notably, a breach was reported in a tributary channel of the canal on Thursday.

While the water supply has been stopped by the Canal Department, farmers are finding it difficult to transplant paddy. The farmers said scarcity of water would delay paddy sowing further.

Jasbeer Singh Jhumba, executive member, BKU Ekta Ugrahan, said, “After a storm on June 13, a breach was reported in a tributary channel of the Sirhind canal. Later, fields were inundated, affecting the paddy crop. Many trees had fallen inside the tributary. Later, the Canal Department stopped releasing the water citing that repair work of the tributary would be carried out.”

Farmers of various villages, including Jhumba, Teona, Chak Attar Singhwala and Ghudda villages, are deeply as the water supply from the canal remained suspended for the past four days.

XEN Gurjinder Singh, said, “After the breach was reported, we had repaired the tributary immediately. But, there were a number of uprooted trees in it. So, water could not be released. It will be released on Monday.”