Sirwar town observes bandh over water release for crops

The largely peaceful agitation was withdrawn after officials pacify farmers

Sirwar town in Raichur district observed bandh on Thursday demanding adequate Tungabhadra water for irrigation. - PHOTO: SANTOSH SAGAR

Sirwar town, about 35 km from Raichur, observed a bandh on Thursday demanding water for irrigation in the tail-end areas of the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal (TLBC).

Hundreds of farmers, mostly led by BJP leaders, took out a rally through the major streets of the town and convinced shopkeepers to down their shutters in support of the cause. However, government offices, including banks and State-run educational institutions, functioned as usual. But they saw low attendance.

Vehicular movement on State Highway-20, which connects Belagavi, Bagalkot and Raichur districts with Hyderabad, was disrupted for about three hours. Police personnel deployed for security were found playing cards inside their vans as the protest was peaceful.

Addressing the agitators, J. Sharanappa Gowda, district president of the BJP, criticised the Water Resources Department for its failure to ensure sufficient water to farmers in tail-end areas. He said officials had failed to implement even what was decided at the meeting of the Irrigation Consultative Committee, held in Bengaluru on July 18. He called upon farmers to stand united to build a movement along the lines of the Cauveri agitation to pressure the government to address their woes.

Opposing the government decision not to release water from Tungabhadra and Krishnaraja Sagar reservoirs for irrigation purposes during the kharif season, former MLA Gangadhar Naik slammed the authorities for not properly guiding the farmers on crop selection. “When the Irrigation Consultative Committee met in Bengaluru last month, Tungabhadra reservoir had just 40 tmcft water and monsoon got weakened. The government should have realised then itself and told the farmers not to cultivate paddy. It announced its decision after most of the farmers had completed paddy transplantation in the command area,” he said.

BJP State secretary N. Shankarappa stressed the need of keeping up the heat on the authorities by organising agitations. “The main problem in our region is that elected representatives from the district are not serious on farmers’ issues. It is unfortunate that water is not reaching the tail-end parts even after strengthening the canal at a cost of Rs. 1,500 crore,” he said.

The agitation was withdrawn after officials of the Water Resources and Revenue Departments promised to provide them water.