Canal Collapse Dries Hopes: Shopian, Pulwama Farmers Cry for Help

Shopian, May 30: Farmers in several villages of south Kashmir’s Shopian and Pulwama districts are battling a water crisis after a vital irrigation canal was damaged over a month ago by incessant rains and a cloudburst.

In Kellar Tehsil’s Sawan, Lasidaban, and Bamnoo villages in Shopian, and Achgoza and adjoining areas in Pulwama, apple and vegetable growers are facing crop distress at the peak of the farming season.

“The main canal was breached after a cloudburst. Since then, our farms have been parched,” said Yawar Ahmad Bhat, an orchardist from Bamnoo. “Without timely irrigation, the fruit quality is deteriorating, and yields are bound to crash.”

Farmers say they’ve been forced to walk long distances just to fetch water for pesticide spraying—an unsustainable burden during this critical period.

The canal, which has irrigated these lands for generations, remains in disrepair despite repeated pleas to the authorities. Local farmers attempted temporary repairs, but the damage was too severe.

“We did what we could with our limited resources,” said a farmer from Achgoza. “But the breach needs machinery and technical support.”

Frustrated by official inaction, residents say they’ve approached the Irrigation Division Shopian several times but received only verbal assurances.

“We’ve waited over a month. Nothing has moved,” said Abdul Rashid, a farmer from Bamnoo.

An official from the Irrigation Department claimed the issue was under consideration and would be resolved soon. But for now, the fields remain dry—and so do the farmers’ hopes.