Gujarat farmers block highway to protest lack of irrigation water in Bhavnagar district, leaders detained

The agitating farmers

By A Representative
Farmers of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat have begun showing signs of frustration over lack of irrigation water to save the winter crop. Information trickling from remote parts of the area say, the farmers of Talaja and Mahuva of Bhavnagar district have gone restive, going so far as to block the highway connecting between the two towns.
The farmers were demanding irrigation water from the right-side canal of the Shetrunji irrigation project.
“After a long time, and under extreme pressure from the farming community of the dam’s command area, the government officials agreed decided to release water in the canal”, said farmers’ leaders attached with the Gujarat Khedut Samaj, Bharatsinh Vala and Pinak Dhameliya.
“However, the water was not enough to reach the last village along the canal”, they said, adding, “Without water, they knew, the winter crop will be completely lost. Despite repeated demands and innumerable memoranda to the district collector the administration was not to be moved.”
“Fearing the worst for their crops, the farmers, in desperation blocked the highway on Wednesday for nearly two hours although completely within the bounds of law and maintaining complete discipline and peace”, they said, adding, “More than 1,000 farmers came on to the road to support the agitating farmers.”
“The government, as usual, resorted to the only way that it knows of talking to the people: by detaining them. When the police came to detain the leaders, the people present there insisted on them all being detained. The police then released all of them”, they said.
Officers from the Irrigation Department met the agitating farmers and gave them an assurance of releasing the water immediately. The water should reach the last village within 3 days, they told them. Following this assurance and the release of water the farmers have decided to call off their agitation.
Gujarat Khedut Samaj secretary Sagar Rabari has in a statement criticized the state government for detaining the farmers demanding irrigation water to secure their winter crop from Shetrunji irrigation project.
He said, “The government action of detaining the farmers its approach towards the farmer and village community. This is also suppression of the people’s right to dissent.”
Meanwhile, reports from remote parts of the area say that not just agriculture but even the villages in other remote areas of Gujarat, too, are facing shortage of water as they are not only getting water once in three days, but are forced to buy it from private players.
Sarpanches are reportedly worried and believe would see riots. One of them, Rakesh Patel, sarpanch of Siosdara, has been quoted as saying, "I have five villages in my jurisdiction and in majority of the villages the water is supplied ever alternate day.”
In another village, Linboi, people are forced to buy water from private suppliers as the village does not have any source of water. The panchayat has written for a construction of the well in the village. “However, we are not sure whether we will get water. But we are hopeful as Vatrak rivers flows in the vicinity of the village."
Bhikhabhaui Varu, sarpanch of Kanthaiya Koli village in Jaffrabad, says that the village is getting Narmada water but the supply is not reliable and hence the villagers were supplied water once in three days. He adds, there was no question of taking any crop as this was a saline area.
"The villagers are forced to buy water from the private suppliers. They store the water supplied by the Panchayat for drinking purpose, while the water purchased from suppliers is saline is being used for washing clothes and other household usage", he adds.

Comments

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Beyond Lata: How Asha Bhosle redefined the female voice with her underrated versatility

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The news of iconic Asha Bhosle’s ‘untimely’ demise has shocked music lovers across the country. Asha Tai was 92 years young. Normally, people celebrate a passing at this age, but Asha Bhosle—much like another legend, Dev Anand—never made us feel she was growing old. She was perhaps the most versatile artist in Bombay cinema. Hailing from a family devoted to music, Asha’s journey to success and fame was not easy. Her elder sister, Lata Mangeshkar, had already become the voice of women in cinema, and most contemporaries like Shamshad Begum, Suraiya, and Noor Jehan had slowly faded into oblivion. Frankly, there was no second or third to Lata Mangeshkar; she became the first—and perhaps the only—choice for music directors and all those who mattered in filmmaking. Asha started her musical journey at age 10 with a Marathi film, but her first break in Hindustani cinema came with the film "Chunariya" (1948). Though she was not the first choice of ...

50 years of the Port of Spain miracle: The chase that redefined Indian cricket

By Harsh Thakor* Fifty years ago, India turned the tide to rewrite cricket history, rising from the depths of despair to a moment of enduring glory. Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad, is celebrated among cricket grounds for its poetic beauty. For India, it became a theatre of historic triumph. In 1976, it showed the cricketing world what it was made of.

Search This Blog