Water Crisis Hits Pulwama Villages Amid Ongoing Paddy Season, Farmers Blame Sand Mining, Irrigation Department for Drying Fields Despite Proximity to Jhelum

Srinagar, June 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