Farmers affected as Faridkot canal closed

The Rajbaha canal, which carries water to around 20 villages remained closed in February and March for construction, leading to drying up of water works at many villages and creating problems for farmers of these villages for two months when the wheat crop still needed water.

But after the construction, supposed to be completed in a month, was completed in two months, water was released into the Rajbaha on April 1. But then it was again closed last Sunday, leading to problems to farmers who have applied direct sowing of paddy on some area.

According to sources, there is still some work going on at the Rajbaha and water would be released shortly.

Irrigation executive engineer Nirmal Singh Brar said, "First, the Rajbaha was closed for construction and then the water was released for growing cotton. Now, it is closed for cleaning and would flow for three months during the paddy season. The water would be released in just two to three days as the paddy season starts from June 10."

"This way, the new technique gets affected and the farmers can also not grow hari khad in the fields which is then ploughed to improve the quality of soil," says Chamkaur Singh, a farmer of a Kotkapura village.