Water – the treasure – now will be secured by Special Police Station in Rajasthan !

Lifeline for Rajasthan - Indira Gandhi canal was started in 1958l

We all have seen numerous Bollywood movies where the local strongman diverts water into his own agriculture lands – to the extent that – the marginalised, underprivileged, minorities or the poor peasants have to take up arms to protect their rights. If you feel that it is fiction – think again – the menace has increased to such levels in Rajasthan that a special Police Station has been set up in the Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan just to keep such thefts under check.

Rajasthan government has announced that it will shortly start operating this unique police station to prevent theft of water for irrigation. Hanumangarh, is on the course of the longest canal in India (650 km long) – Indira Gandhi Canal - which starts at Harike Barrage in Punjab carrying water from Satluj and Beas rivers and terminates in irrigation facilities at the Thar Desert near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

It traverses through seven districts of Rajasthan including Barmer, Bikaner, Churu, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Sriganganagar, apart from irrigating areas in Punjab and Haryana before entering Rajasthan.

This unique police station will be manned by 60 policemen, including a CI, 5 sub-inspectors, 8 head constables and the rest constables. The immediate requirement of this action is the increased incidence of rampant water theft cases in and around the area. The location of Hanumangarh as the gateway for the canal into Rajasthan, makes it much more crucial, as the flow if reduced here will impact the whole course of the canal.

Since 2017, there has been a spurt in cases of water theft. Usually, long pipes are inserted into the canal and water is taken into the field, surreptitiously. 74 cases of water theft were registered in Hanumangarh district alone. Of these, 28 have been registered in Bhirani police station alone.

Senior Police Officials have been on record stating that such incidents are higher in Nohar and Bhadra Vidhansabha areas as there is no ‘chakbandi’ there. They claim that farmers from Haryana are bigger offenders, and since the rip-off in such places leads to water crisis in the tail areas, this location hence is of prime importance. Cases are registered under IPC section 397 when one is caught stealing water.

Nohar MLA Amit Chachan, says, “Influential and dominating farmers take water to their fields leaving other farmers to suffer.”

Senior Police Officials also state that, Water theft cases have increased recently in Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts. If cases increase further, number of such police stations will have to increase in future as the Canal Department also have requested enforcement officials to be stationed near the canal.

Officials have confirmed that a police station just to stop water theft, is a first across the country, in any state.