Raj Sadosh/Sriganganagar/Abohar.
Farmers organisations in Sriganganagar continued dharna, the protest has been going for releasing water in Gang Canal from Ferozepur headworks Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (KSS) spokesman Subhash Sehgal said.
Farmers assembled near the statue of Gang Canal creator Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner near the District Administrative Complex and shouted slogans against the Punjab government for denying water in the canal. They burnt effigies, affixed with photos of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Water Resources Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer.
(SUBHEAD)KSS district president Amar Singh Bishnoi said that Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in a tweet last week informed that he spoke to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and said that closure of Gang Canal, lifeline of farmers, would seriously affect crops.
Mann had assured reportedly to restore water supply in the canal soon but only 1000 cusecs of water was released from Ferozepur headworks for two days, the discharge has now nosedived. “Our team had inspected Gang Canal near Guruharsahai in Ferozepur district and found that its sidewalls had been damaged due to negligence of the Canal Department that had not cleared hyacinth during the maintenance related closure in April”, Bishnoi said.
He said that Water Resources Department engineers were camping at Ferozepur but Punjab counterparts had not responded to the request for running Gang Canal to its capacity of 2800 cusecs fearing that poorly maintained canal would breach.
