Farmers complain contaminated water in Abohar branch canal
The Abohar canal division farmers have complained that the water flowing through the Abohar branch canal and other Minors (sub canals) for the past two weeks is black in colour.
They said it appeared that the water released after the reconstruction and repair work of the canal carried waste that had accumulated during the past few weeks.
Abohar Canal Division Executive Engineer Vinod Suthar said this evening that the contamination was due to the accumulation of silt and waste in the Harike Barrage pond area. As Rajasthan canals emanating from the barrage were not drawing water to their capacity owing to different reasons, silt continued to flow in the canal system that fed Abohar and the surrounding areas and the senior authorities had been duly informed about this situation. Water was being accepted only for farming here. Improvement in the quality of water was expected soon, he added.
The Kisan Sangharsh Samiti spokespersons Subhash Sehgal and Amar Singh Bishnoi said the state government had not been able to tackle the problem faced by people in Fazilka district and neighbouring Sriganganagar that was called “Punjab of Rajasthan”.
Bishnoi said Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma last week visited Harike Barrage and Ferozepur headworks through which water was supplied to canals in remote areas of Abohar, Fazilka, Jalalabad in Punjab and Sriganganagar in Rajasthan. He, along with a cavalcade of officials, too watched the brackish water flowing.
Attempts to present him with bottles filled with black water were, however, foiled by the Punjab Police.
Later, the Bhartiya Kisan Union activists went to the Fazilka Deputy Commissioner’s office carrying with them black water bottles, demanding relief.
The Municipal Corporation Abohar had refused to accept black water supply and kept the inlets shut, fearing such toxic water could not be cleaned even by the new water treatment plant that Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had inaugurated a few months ago. Most of the councillors confirmed that consumers in their wards could not be supplied water as only four tube-wells were operational to store and supply groundwater and the demand for water had increased manifold due to the rising temperature.
MLA Sandeep Jakhar, who raised the problem of dirty water on social media and also tagged the Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister about 10 days ago, slammed AAP legislators and other senior leaders for their silence on this issue.
Punjab