A farmers’ road blockade over the release of irrigation water into the Nira river was called off after nearly three hours on the Sarati bypass in Indapur taluka, following an assurance from Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil that officials and elected representatives would meet in Pune on Monday to discuss the issue.
Farmers from villages along the Nira river in Indapur and Malshiras talukas staged the protest on Friday at the Sarati bypass on the Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi Highway. Men and women farmers sat on the road in the heat, demanding that water be released into the river for agricultural use. The blockade lasted between two-and-a-half and three hours, according to the report by Lokmat – Pune.
The protest brought together farmers and several political representatives, including former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, former minister Harshvardhan Patil, Member of Parliament Dhaishyalsinh Patil and MLA Uttam Jankar. The presence of the Mohite Patil family was also highlighted during the demonstration.
During the blockade, Harshvardhan Patil spoke to Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil by telephone and conveyed the seriousness of the situation. He said farmers and public representatives were sitting on the road in the heat for water that they considered their right, and sought a concrete decision rather than another assurance.
According to the report, the minister responded positively and promised that a meeting would be held at the Pune district collector’s office on Monday with the concerned officials and elected representatives. The meeting is expected to take up the demand for releasing water into the Nira river.
The assurance led the farmers to suspend the road blockade. However, the report did not specify the quantity of water proposed for release, the operational source of the water or the date by which flow would begin. Farmers are now waiting for the Monday meeting and for clarity on when water will actually be released into the riverbed.
The protest highlights how decisions on river flows and irrigation supply can quickly become both an agricultural and a transport issue in rural areas connected to major highways. The next formal step is the meeting promised at the Pune district collector’s office, where officials and representatives are expected to decide the way forward on the water demand.
