Editorial
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| | Power blues hit agriculture | | Govt failure to maintain irrigation water supply will hit crop production in J&K | | | Power blues in Jammu and Kashmir which have been bothering the people across the length and breadth of the state has also adversely affected the agricultural operations as a result of which the farmers have been forced to take to protests. In the process, political leaders at the local level have also joined hands with the farming community. Cropping operations for paddy at their peak during the current season have been hampered due to electricity shortage because they cannot resort to pumping of irrigation water from the wells for their fields. Even otherwise also, the irrigation facilities through the century old canal network do not suffice the needs of the farmers. Already the farmers have been reeling under the shortage of quality seeds well in time from the government agencies apart from the non-availability of chemical fertilizers. Their pleas to the government agencies on these accounts have fallen on deaf ears and no serious attention has been paid to their problems. This is the story of farmers on annual basis whenever rains have been deficient in most areas of Jammu region and some areas of Kashmir valley. The question arises why cannot the government and its agencies are sleeping over these serious issues throughout the year when repairs and carriage of irrigation water can be undertaken in advance. The complaints of the farmers are pointers toward a bigger malaise that afflicts the irrigation department. Instead of improving the facilities, the department has been lagging behind in carrying out the repairs and maintenance of the canal network in time. At the end of the financial year, irrigation department wakes up to the problems of the farmers and maintenance work is delayed will the cropping season on the head. In this context, corruption and malpractices have been blamed for delays in the maintenance work. Now things have reached such a pass that the farmers have threatened to hold demonstration against the government in rural areas. |
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