Muktsar farmers protest irregular power supply

Muktsar, June 29

Upset over erratic power supply and closure of canals, a large number of farmers in Muktsar district are staging protest against the state government. Some farmers have also pitched in a tent on the Muktsar-Ferozepur highway at Marhmallu village here. A farmer activist Nirmal Singh Jasseana even started indefinite hunger strike there.

Jasseana said: “A large number of villages are affected due to closure of canals. The paddy crop requires adequate amount of water at this stage, but the authorities concerned have closed the canals in the name of cleanliness. Underground water here is unfit for irrigation and if used in fields at this stage, it may even affect the yield.” He said: “See the callousness of the officials concerned that none has so far visited our protest site. They are sitting in their air-conditioned offices and playing with the lives of farmers.” — TNS