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Farmers resume stir, block roads

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, NOV. 16. The farmers of north-west Rajasthan irrigated by the Indira Gandhi Canal Project resumed their agitation for water after a week-long festival break today blocking the roads in Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts and crippling normal life. No untoward incident was reported on the first day of the renewed agitation which had claimed four lives a fortnight back in police firing.

Hundreds of farmers, under the joint banner of the Kisan, Mazdoor Vyapari Sangarsh Samiti came out on the roads at about two dozen vantage points to bring the vehicular traffic to a standstill. They were led by Hetram Beniwal, the Sriganganagar district secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and former MLAs, Gurmeet Singh Kunnur and Sohan Naik.

All this when the Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje, scouted the offices of the Union Ministers in Delhi today asking for water and money to fend off the wrath of the farmers. Earlier, in a letter to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, she also sought a humanitarian approach towards the water requirements of Rajasthan from the canals flowing through Punjab.

Rumours were afloat throughout the day in the area where the agitation is on about the precarious condition of Harbans Singh, a farmer from 2 GD of Ghadsana, who is presently admitted to the Sawai Man Singh Hospital here after he sustained injuries in police lathi charge during the agitation earlier. The district administration remained on high alert throughout the day with the newly posted Divisional Commissioner for Bikaner, Shrimat Pandey himself staying put in the area. The district authorities have confirmed the impact of the blockade.

The schools and colleges remained closed after the administration directing them not to function on the day. The buses of the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation kept off the roads.

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Farmers resume stir, block roads

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