Punjabs’s canal water system needs overhaul, says farm union

MOGA : Kirti Kisan Union (KKU) on Friday said that the Punjab government must repair and restore the ‘destroyed’ canal water system in the state. KKU organised a rally in Moga district to discuss the challenges of agriculture and the water crisis in Punjab.

“It is very necessary to expand the network of the canal system to make sure the water reaches every farm,” KKU state president Nirbhai Singh Dhudhike said demanding the state government to take concrete steps to recharge the underground water and to prevent dumping of polluted water by industries and cities into the rivers and the ground.

Farmer leaders demanded canal water for every farm, clean drinking water for every house, change in the agriculture development model and the opening of the Attari and Hussainiwala road corridors to restart the India-Pakistan trade. “The claims of crop diversification by the governments to solve the agricultural crisis have become mere shallow advertisements. The basic root of the agricultural crisis lies in the pro-corporate agricultural development model of the green revolution, which has created a crisis of water and the environment along with the heavy indebtedness of the farmers. This model needs to be replaced with a self-sustaining, toxic-free nature-friendly and profitable farming model” said KKU general secretary Rajinder Singh Deep Singh Wala.

The farmer leaders said that on the one hand, the water crisis in the state is worsening day by day, while on the other hand, chief minister Bhagwant Mann has promised more water to Rajasthan. KKU said they strongly object to this and warned the government to stop playing with the emotions of the people of the state.

UNION LEADERS DEMANDED CANAL WATER FOR EVERY FARM, CLEAN DRINKING WATER FOR EVERY HOUSE