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No water in Sirhind feeder canal, devotees stage protest

BATHINDA: Hundreds of migrants living in Bathinda held a protest and disrupted vehicular traffic on the Bathinda-Amritsar highway for some time for not releasing water in Sirhind feeder canal due to which they could not hold Chhath Puja. As the canal was dry for some repair work, the migrants, mainly natives from Bihar , Odisha and Uttar Pradesh failed to perform religious ceremonies.

They lifted the protest after assurance of releasing of water in the canal before evening.



Many of the migrants reside near the canal. “We were told that the canal has been closed till October 31 for repairs. We hoped that water will be released on November 1 and we will be able to perform religious ceremonies on November 2, but the water was not released even till Friday that is sheer discrimination with us and we showcased our

anger by holding a protest,” said Bihar native Kamlesh Kumar, who has been living in Bathinda for the past several years.

“The administration had the knowledge that we have to perform Chhath Puja on Friday, but despite that water was not released in the canal due to which we could not perform religious ceremonies,” said another Bihar native Kanu Devi.

An official of the water resources department said the canal was closed for necessary repairs and efforts would be made to release water by the evening.

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