Farmers from Surendranagar,Rajkot and Kutch districts led a protest march and dharna in Ahmedabad on Wednesday to protest against the state governments order disallowing them from drawing water from the Narmada Canal.

The protest was led by Mahuva BJP MLA Dr Kanu Kalsariya,veteran Gandhian Chunibhai Vaidya,Mahagujarat Janta Party (MJP) chief Gordhan Zadafia and former state Finance Minister Sanat Mehta.

MJP has declared to lead a peaceful violation of the illegal orders of the state government,on June 18.

Zadafia said,todays rally was aimed at creating awareness among the farmers about their right to Narmada waters under the Narmada Water Disputes Redressal Tribunal (NWDRT) order.

He said the state government is violating the award of NWDRT which calls for allocating a portion of the Narmada water exclusively for irrigation. Out of a total nine million acre feet (MAF) of Narmada water allocated to Gujarat by NWDRT,7.92 MAF is for irrigation,0.20 MAF for industry and 0.88 for drinking purposes,he said.

So,when the Narmada canal began carrying water to Surendranagar,Rajkot and Kutch districts in 2006,farmers in the command area of the canal were allowed to lift water by using pumps and pipes for irrigating their fields,he added.

Zadafia said the arrangement continued for two years till July 2008,when the state government issued orders banning farmers from lifting water in Rajkot,Surendranagar and Kutch. Pumps and other equipment of thousands of farmers were seized and destroyed. Since then,the Narmada water flowing through the canals in these districts was supplied to industries after meeting the demand for drinking water,he said.

Zadafia said it was totally unfair and a gross injustice to deny water to farmers. NWDRT had fixed a share for farmers and it was farmers lands which were acquired for constructing the canal and they have a natural right over the canal waters,he said.

He added that the farmers,in fact,paid to the state government for lifting water to irrigate the fields and had a right to claim their share even if the quantity of water flowing in the canals was less.

He said thousands of farmers will assemble at Gate No. 108 of the Narmada Canal at Ghantila village and violate the government orders in a peaceful manner.

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