Baramulla: Amid an ongoing heat wave and dry weather conditions, farmers in Gulistan village of Sheeri Narvaw in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district are protesting against the authorities due to the parched state of their paddy fields, caused by a scarcity of irrigation water.
The farmers allege that hundreds of kanals of paddy land have dried up and developed cracks due to the lack of irrigation water and the absence of rain for the past month.
“We want the district administration to send teams to the area to assess the damage. Our paddy land is parching due to the scarcity of irrigation water. The Flood and Irrigation Department must step forward to provide irrigation water to our land,” one farmer said.
They noted that the main source of irrigation, the Mundri Nallah stream, has seen a considerable decrease in water levels, leaving paddy fields without irrigation. Additionally, water leaks from canals in several places need to be addressed by the Irrigation Department.
“We want an irrigation scheme for the area so that our paddy crops are not destroyed by the dry weather conditions. The government issues just 25 kilos of rice per person from food depots. If our paddy crop is destroyed, what will our families eat?” they questioned.
The farmers also alleged that no one from the Revenue or Irrigation Department has visited the area so far, and they urged immediate attention to the issue.
The aggrieved residents appealed to the Deputy Commissioner of Baramulla and the Executive Engineer of the Irrigation Department in Baramulla to personally intervene in the matter.
