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| - Fact Check: Has Bhutan deliberately blocked irrigation water to Indian farmers in Assam?
A viral post on social media claims that amid India's border rows with neighbouring countries, now Bhutan has stopped the supply of irrigation water to farmers in Assam.
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India Today Fact Check
Bhutan has not stopped irrigation water to Indian farmers. Due to lockdown, Indian farmers could not enter Bhutan to maintain irrigation channels. Now, Bhutan is repairing them to ensure smooth flow of water to Assam.
A viral post on social media claims that amid India's border rows with neighbouring countries, now Bhutan has stopped the supply of irrigation water to farmers in Assam.
This was initially reported by several news outlets such as "The Times of India", "News 18" and "southasian monitor". Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy had also tweeted the same news.
Soon after, several Facebook and Instagram profiles posted the same information, claiming that "after China, Pakistan and Nepal, now Bhutan has also started hassling India".
The viral post says, "Now Bhutan stops the irrigation water for Indian farmers for the first time in 67 years! This is going to affect over 6000 farmers from 26 villages along the border in Baksa dist, Assam. Don't know how many disaster we would see under the Surrender Modi's regime".
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the information to be misleading. Bhutan has not blocked irrigation water to Indian farmers. Normally, Indian farmers cross over to Bhutan to maintain irrigation channels. But due to the lockdown, they could not do so this time. Now, the Bhutanese government, with the help of locals, is repairing them to ensure smooth flow of water to farmers in Assam.
The archived versions of the posts can be seen here, here and here. Many Facebook users have posted the same content.
The Bhutanese foreign ministry, through a press release, has shot down news articles claiming that Bhutan has stopped irrigation water to Indian farmers. It has termed the media reports baseless and "a deliberate attempt to spread misinformation and cause misunderstanding between the friendly people of Bhutan and Assam".
Farmers of Baksa and Udalguri districts of Assam, adjoining Samdrup Jongkhar district of Bhutan, have been benefitting from Bhutan's water sources for several decades. Every year, during this time, farmers from Assam enter Bhutan to maintain irrigation channels.
As per the Bhutanese government, due to the Covid-19 lockdown on both sides this year, Indian farmers could not enter Bhutan to maintain the irrigation channels. This created some problems related to irrigation water in Assam.
Now, the Bhutanese government, along with locals, is repairing these irrigation channels to ensure smooth flow of water to Assam. But as per the Bhutanese foreign ministry, heavy monsoon is hampering work. The ministry has even released photographs of how the local administration is working to clear the irrigation channels.
The Bhutanese government's initiative has also been reported by some news outlets recently.
Also, the picture of the canal used in the viral Facebook claim is misleading. This is a five-year-old picture taken from the website of Bhutan's agriculture and forests ministry.
Hence, it can be concluded that the viral claim of Bhutan stopping irrigation water to Assam is misleading. There have been some protests in the villages regarding the issue, which was given a different connotation.
A difficult situation arose due to lockdown as Indian farmers could not enter Bhutan to maintain the irrigation channels, which is now being repaired by the Bhutanese government for smooth flow of water to India.
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