Paddy cultivation in Pulwama villages hit as land runs dry

PULWAMA — The Paddy crop being cultivated on thousands of kanals of land in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, presently under the administration of the BJP-led Central government, is on the verge of suffering a huge damage due to lack of proper irrigation management.

Apart from various fruits and vegetables, farmers also cultivate paddy in Gulzarpora, Nowgam, Khandaypora, Baderwan, Wakherwan, Panzgam villages of Pulwama district. However, farmers are worried about the lack of adequate irrigation water this year.

The farmers said that the newly constructed link road, which connects Panzgam village with Malangpora area, had cut off the water supply to their fields.

A local farmer said that there were small drains at various places in the road which were completely blocked during the road’s construction which cut off the flow of water to Paddy fields.

He said, “Road construction is also important, but the authorities should not block irrigation sources for farmers.”

The farmers blamed the local Irrigation Department, saying, “The only source of water for our fields and incoming water has been cut off. The Paddy crop is on the verge of collapse without irrigation.”

The farmers said that due to ‘lack of seriousness’ on part of the Irrigation Department, the farmers of the area may go on hunger strike.

When contacted, Er Vimal Razdan (Ex En ID Pulwama) said that he will see what exactly has made the farmers suffer and will refer the matter to the concerned JE. “We never allow such constructions which affects water supply to agriculture fields. Prima facie, this seems to be the misadventure of local people only who themselves work on such roads.”