BJP, Cong indifferent to our demands on water from Jawai Dam: Jalore farmers

Jodhpur: Farmers in Jalore on Friday said that leaders of BJP and Congress are indifferent to their demands.
Farmers of Jalore have been staging demonstration for over three weeks demanding their share of water from Jawai Dam through Jawai river in order to get the wells and borewells of their farms recharged.
Vaibhav Gehlot, who met farmers on Thursday, had to bear this displeasure of the farmers, who told him that they had demonstrated with the same demands during the regime of Congress but what they got was just assurance.
"Nothing is in your hands now. Had you done good of farmers, we would have voted Congress to power," the farmers took a dig at Vaibhav.
However, he reminded the BJP leaders also of their promises stating that the BJP govt has wasted a year of the farmers' time.
"The previous govt had announced the Jawai recharge scheme during the farmers' protests. Had they progressed with it, this problem would never have arisen," he said.
The regional vice-president of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Kheemsingh, said that they will take the farmers' demands to the highest level stating that the farmers in the Jalore district have suffered significant losses after the construction of the Jawai Dam.
"The water level in wells has dropped by 700 to 800 feet. This has caused problems not only for irrigation but also for drinking water. Farmers have been protesting for a long time over their demand for water. Even during the previous Gehlot govt, protests were held, and discussions were conducted with the govt. While the govt gave many assurances, no solution has been implemented," he said.
A year ago, during an assembly election rally in Sayla, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah had spoken about reviving the Jawai river.
"However, even after a year, no solution has been implemented. This has forced us to sit on this protest. The protest will continue until our demands are met," Singh said.
It may be noted that BJP's chief whip and Jalore legislator Jogeshwar Garg had met the home minister Shah during his recent visit to Jodhpur to attend the function at BSF and had apprised him of farmers' demand.