Handwara, Jun,23: A ray of hope has emerged for the farming community of Vodhpora village in north Kashmir's Kupwara district as the Flood Irrigation Division Handwara on Monday began restoration work on the blocked irrigation canal near Vodhpora crossing on the Handwara Kupwara Highway.

The canal is a vital source of irrigation for nearly 1,500 kanals of agricultural land in the area and had remained blocked for months, causing immense hardship to local farmers.

The development comes a day after local farmers staged a peaceful protest against the Beacon authorities and the Flood Irrigation Department over the delay in restoring the damaged canal. Protesters alleged that despite repeated requests and several written applications, no concrete action had been taken to address the issue.

Farmers said the prolonged disruption of irrigation facilities had severely impacted agricultural activities and accused the sub-district administration Handwara of failing to resolve their genuine concerns in time. They had warned of intensifying their agitation and blocking the Handwara Kupwara Highway if immediate action was not taken.

Following the intervention of Deputy Commissioner Kupwara, Shrikant Suse, the Executive Engineer (Exn) of Flood Irrigation Division Handwara, along with his team, launched a restoration drive on a war footing.

According to officials, nearly 70 percent of the blocked canal stretch was restored by Monday evening with the help of manpower and machinery. Locals alleged that portions of the canal had been illegally occupied during road construction activities.

Residents and members of the farming community expressed gratitude to the Deputy Commissioner for his prompt intervention and also appreciated the efforts of the Executive Engineer and his team.

However, farmers said they would judge the success of the exercise only after irrigation water is fully restored to their fields.

"We believe in actual work, not photo opportunities. For the past two months, we have seen promises without results. The real achievement will be when water reaches our agricultural land again," the farmers said.

The Executive Engineer of Flood Irrigation Division Handwara appealed to the local farming community to cooperate with the department and assured them that the restoration work would be completed by Tuesday evening.

"We are continuously working on the project and are committed to fully restoring the canal and resuming irrigation water supply at the earliest," he said.