Jaisalmer: Anger among farmers in Jaisalmer’s Indira Gandhi Canal command area over inadequate irrigation water supply erupted again Saturday, with farmers resuming their agitation at Zero Head in Mohangarh and launching an indefinite dharna.The protest had been suspended earlier this week after irrigation department officials assured farmers that the canal would be operated according to the agreed schedule. However, farmers said the situation on the ground had not improved and water was still not reaching the tail-end areas of the Jaisalmer zone.Farmer leader Shahban Khan said Jaisalmer’s share of irrigation water is around 1,800 cusecs, but the current supply is significantly lower. As a result, water is failing to reach the tail-end fields, leaving farmers struggling to save standing crops.Farmers said they had held talks with irrigation department officials last Sunday, following which they were given written and verbal assurances that the canal would be operated according to the prescribed schedule. Based on the assurances, the farmers had agreed to suspend the protest until Wednesday.However, with no visible improvement in the supply, farmers returned to the protest site and resumed their indefinite dharna.Farmers Mohan Singh Rajpurohit, Poonam Singh and others alleged that despite repeated assurances from the department, Jaisalmer zone was not receiving its adequate share of irrigation water. They said standing crops were now on the verge of drying up, threatening to wipe out months of hard work.Farmers also expressed strong resentment over the absence of senior irrigation department and administrative officials at the protest site.They said no responsible official visited the spot to hear their grievances even after the agitation resumed.Farmer leaders warned that the protest would be intensified if an immediate solution was not found. They said thousands of farmers could march towards Zero Head on Sunday as part of the escalation of the agitation.Hundreds of farmers were present at the protest site on Saturday. They maintained that the agitation would continue until adequate irrigation water was supplied to the Jaisalmer zone and reached the tail-end areas.The renewed protest has once again brought the issue of equitable canal-water distribution to the forefront, with farmers demanding that the irrigation schedule and their designated water share be strictly implemented.
Jaisalmer farmers resume protest over inadequate canal water supply | Jaipur News
