Water crisis hits Pulwama villages amid ongoing paddy season

Srinagar, Jun 25: Farmers across several villages in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district are reeling under an acute water crisis during the peak paddy cultivation season, accusing the Irrigation and Flood Control (IFC) Department of negligence and failure in water management despite the Jhelum River flowing alongside their lands.
Villages including Chersoo, Hariparigam, Kchaichkoot, Reshipora, Dogripora, Baigpora, Padgampora, and Larkipora are witnessing their paddy fields dry up due to the unavailability of irrigation water. Farmers say that lift irrigation schemes have been rendered non-functional, leaving hundreds of kanals of agricultural land parched and at risk of crop failure.
“We are watching our crops wither while the river flows right next to our fields,” said Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, a farmer from Reshipora. He attributed the crisis to failed irrigation schemes that became ineffective due to years of rampant sand mining in the Jhelum. “The depth of the river has increased so much that the lift pumps can no longer draw water. This is a man-made disaster,” he said.
Locals alleged that large-scale sand mining is being carried out by contractors from Sangam to Pampore, damaging the riverbed and rendering traditional irrigation setups obsolete. The extracted sand, they say, is used for infrastructure projects while farmers are left to suffer.
A farmer from Chersoo highlighted the collapse of the lift irrigation scheme at Darbal, while another from Larmoh pointed out a breach in the Awantipora canal at Waghama, which has further deepened the crisis. “Even though we are ready to pay for repairs and services, no one comes to inspect the fields,” he said. “We have already made payments to the department in the past.”
As frustration mounts, farmers are now threatening to block the highway if immediate steps are not taken to restore water supply to their fields. They are demanding urgent repairs of lift pumps, canal breaches, and a complete halt to illegal sand extraction from the Jhelum.
“This is not just an agricultural issue, it’s about survival,” said one elderly farmer, adding that their entire year’s livelihood is at stake if water is not restored immediately. [KNT]