Water shortage in Ganderbal areas, farmers express concern

Ganderbal, July 28: Several areas of the Ganderbal district have been facing severe water shortages for the last two weeks, causing hardships for the people here.

Locals from several areas of the district complained that they have been facing water shortages for the last two weeks.

The non-availability of water has also led to protests by the residents in a few areas.

They said that both the towns and rural areas in Kangan, Ganderbal, Lar, Tulmulla, and Gund are facing similar problems.

The prolonged dry spell and intense heat have also had a significant impact on agriculture, triggering concern among the farmers.

The farmers are struggling to irrigate their fields, with many crops wilting under the relentless sun. The shortage of water for irrigation is expected to impact the upcoming harvest season, leading to potential economic hardships for the farming community. “Crops are suffering, and we are not getting enough water to sustain them,” Manzoor Ahmad, a resident of Tulmulla said. “If this continues, we will face huge losses.”

The farmers in several areas said that their agricultural land had dried up.

They said that even the irrigation canals do not have any water to feed their crops.

Fear of a likely drought-like situation is gaining ground with each passing day among hundreds of farmers across the district.

“Lack of rainfall affects transplanted paddy because farmland is drying and developing cracks, a bad sign for rain-fed paddy cultivation. This is an alarming situation. If there is no rain by the end of July, a drought-like situation will hit us,” a farmer from Arhama village said.

The officials of the Jal Shakti and Irrigation Departments urged the people to use water judiciously. They said that in some areas, the water shortage is mainly due to the water sources drying up as a result of less rainfall. They said water tankers would be kept available in areas facing severe water shortages.

Meanwhile, the district administration Ganderbal appointed several officials as nodal officers to redress public grievances given the ongoing water shortage due to prolonged dry weather conditions.