Amid dry weather conditions, farmers irrigating paddy fields with buckets in Handwara’s Chogal highlights water crisis

Kupwara, Jun 19: In a gloomy and heartbreaking display of neglect, an octogenarian farmer from Maidan Chogal area of Handwara has been forced to irrigate his paddy field using buckets due to the ongoing irrigation crisis in the area.

The elderly man in a video that went viral on social media can be seen watering his filed with buckets in scorching heat. "Following false promises by the concerned department for last 10 days of restoring water to our fields, I couldn't tolerate to see my crop vanishing for lack of water. I have come here to my field straight after Fajar prayers and started to water the field because I can't see the crop getting vanished only after one month of sowing," said the elderly person.

"I want to ask the concerned department why they have failed to take any concrete step to mitigate irrigation crisis in our area. For last ten days we have been continously seeking attention of the Irrigation Department but to no avail. We were told that the pump shed at Wadhpora has gone out of order and the department has failed to repair it causing drought like situation to over thirty thousand kanals of paddy fields," he added. "I haven't seen such a crisis in my 80 years of life," stated the elderly farmer while he poured water into the parched field,". Local residents have accused the Irrigation Department of gross negligence, stating that their repeated pleas have fallen on deaf ears with the result their paddy fileds have dried up. "The officials remain unmoved while our fields dry up. We are left with no support," they added.

Farmers are also anguished over the silence of the local MLA and administration, saying that their entire livelihood depends on paddy cultivation but there seem to be no one from administration coming forward to address this pressing issue.

Meanwhile, Javed Ahmad Qureshi, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) Mechanical Division, acknowledged that the Chogal irrigation pump has been non-functional for the past several years. "Although a Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been submitted to higher authorities for repair of Chogal irrigation pump but they were yet to receive administrative approval," he added. "Presently Chogal and other adjacent villages get irrigation water from Wadhpora pump for three hours daily but since the Wadhpora pump had gone out of order for last few days, the farmers had to face problems,".

When this issue was brought into the notice of Executive Engineer Irrigation Department Division Handwara Shahid Hussain, he acknowledged the hardships being faced by the farmers. "Since the Wadhpora pump was out of order for past several and that stands restored now, so there is hope that water will reach Chogal by this evening," he added.