Tail-end farmers in south-western Punjab grapple with severe water shortage

Tribune News Service

Archit Watts

Fazilka/Muktsar, June 28

Despite tall claims of the state government of making water available at the tail-end of canals in the south-western part of the state, a reality check reveals the situation is quite the opposite. For instance, during peak summer, the Water Resources Department has been closing channels on rotational basis to meet the shortage of canal water in Fazilka and Muktsar districts.

Water Dept has been closing channels on rotational basis in Fazilka, Muktsar

Further, the farmers reject the state government’s claim of providing canal water to 548 acres at Janisar village, saying the present flow of water is insufficient.

Rs 60 lakh down the drain

The state government spent nearly Rs 60 lakh on laying a pipeline to our village in December last year. On paper, we are now getting canal water supply. However, the flow of water is insufficient and its depth is less than an inch in the channel. The fact is we are still dependent on a nearby drain.

Farmers of Janisar village

80-90 families benefiting

The laying of new 4,300-foot pipeline and other works worth nearly Rs 60 lakh have been completed at Janisar village. Canal water was supplied to 548 acres after 35 years last winter. Nearly 80-90 families are benefitting from this scheme. The farmers even reaped good wheat harvest this year.

Navtej Singh, SDO, Canals, Muktsar

Rajasthan fares much better

The situation is so grim that we now want to be part of Rajasthan, which is doing a lot more for its farmers. My family owns 48 acres, but we are able to grow cotton only on eight acres and kinnow on 10. We have never got enough canal water. As a result, a large portion of our land either remains unused or we grow ‘moong’ during rains. We only get ample water supply during rains.

Mehram Singh, a farmer from Bakainwala village

At Janisar village located at the tail-end of Muktsar distributary, farmers Major Singh, Baldev Singh and Malkit Singh say: “The state government has spent nearly Rs 60 lakh on laying a pipeline to our village in December last year. However, we have not got canal water after winter. The underground water is brackish, which can’t be used for irrigation or human consumption. On paper, we are now getting canal water supply. However, the flow of water is insufficient and the depth is less than an inch in the channel. The fact is we are still dependent on a nearby drain and on lifting water using tractors at our own expense. Senior officers, sitting in their air-conditioned offices, are merely issuing statements to the media. The situation on the ground is entirely different.”

On-the-spot assessment of the point where canal water emerges from the pipeline reveals a shallow stream in the channel, which turns ‘kutcha’ 200 metres ahead. As a result, the water accumulates in a huge pit, which village residents use for livestock.

However, Navtej Singh, SDO, Canals, Muktsar, says: “The laying of new 4,300-foot pipeline and other works worth Rs 60 lakh have been completed at Janisar village. Canal water was supplied to 548 acres after 35 years last winter. Nearly 80-90 families are benefitting from this scheme. The farmers even reaped good wheat harvest this year.”

However, en route to Bakainwala village in Fazilka district, located on the Rajasthan border, barely 2 km from Pakistan, the Panjawa minor, which supplies water to villages famous for kinnow orchards, has run dry. Further, a number of kinnow plants and water tanks created in orchards were found empty.

“The situation has turned so grim that we now want to be part of Rajasthan, which is doing a lot more for its farmers. My family owns 48 acres, but we are able to grow cotton only on eight acres and kinnow on 10. We have never got enough canal water. As a result, a large portion of our land either remains unused or we grow ‘moong’ during rains. The underground water is brackish and we fetch water from borewells dug along the Gang canal for domestic use. We just get one full crop of wheat, that too because of the winter. We only get ample supply of canal water during rains,” laments Mehram Singh, a farmer from Bakainwala village.

Sukhdev Singh, village sarpanch, says: “Nearly 40 per cent of the fields in our village remain vacant just because of lack of canal water. Our village is located at the tail-end and no one can better explain the scarcity of canal water than us. So much so that people are reluctant to give us their daughters’ hand in marriage.”

Farmer unions in the area have lodged numerous protests, but the state government still closes canals during the peak of summer, claims Ajay Wadhwa, a Diwan Khera farmer leader who has been uprooting his kinnow orchards to grow vegetables.

Sukhjit Singh, Executive Engineer, Abohar Division (Canals), however, says: “We currently require 4,000 cusecs of water in this division, which supplies water to parts of Fazilka and Muktsar districts. However, we receive just 3,400 cusecs. To meet the deficit, we have started canal closure on a rotating basis. Lambi minor was closed for a week earlier. Now, Panjawa minor is shut. Thereafter, Malukpura minor will be closed. This will continue for some time until the demand is met.”

Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar claims he has been repeatedly raising this issue, but to no avail.

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