The farmers of Dhareja village in Bhaderwah Monday staged a demonstration against the public works department for allegedly “failing to repair a damaged irrigation canal”.
To express their resentment, dozens of farmers assembled atChinar Mohalla of Bhaderwah and raised slogans against the public worksdepartment. They also blocked the Bhaderwah-Sartingal road for hours, demandingrepair of the damaged canal.
Due to the blockade, employees and students of Bhaderwahcampus and schools faced hardships to reach their destinations.
The protesters alleged, “Due to the callous attitude of PWD,we are facing severe hardships. Due to unavailability of water, we will not be ableto irrigate our lands during the season of Kharif crop.”
They added that the canal water is the only source ofirrigation and lamented that they will not able to sow Kharif crop, if thecanal is not restored.
Later, station house officer, Bhaderwah, Munir Khan,accompanied by junior engineer, PWD, Najeeb Ahmed, visited the spot and triedto pacify the protesters.
The station house officer assured the farmers that theconcerned department will restore the canal by the evening. On this assurance, the farmers called offtheir protest and lifted the road blockade.
They also warned of intensifying their agitation andblocking the Bhaderwah-Doda highway, if their demand is not met.