Thimpu: Bhutan on Friday dismissed media reports claiming that it had stopped supplying irrigation water to farmers in Assam. Bhutan called these reports completely ‘baseless’ and said it was a ‘thought-out attempt’ by vested interests to create misunderstandings with India.
A statement issued by Bhutan’s Foreign Ministry said that several news articles published in India since June 24, 2020, alleged that Bhutan had blocked the water supply channels that Indian in Baksa and Udalguri districts of Assam They provide irrigation water to the farmers.
“The allegation is painful and the Ministry of External Affairs wants to clarify that the news articles are completely baseless as there is no reason to stop the water flow at this time,” the statement said.
In the statement
It further said, “This is a deliberate attempt by vested interests to spread misleading information and create misunderstandings between the friendly people of Bhutan and Assam.”
Hours before Bhutan’s statement, Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna had tweeted the news in a late night tweet, stating that the real reason was the natural blocking of water.
He said, The recent reports in the media of Bhutan stopping the water supply to India are false. The natural reason for the uncontrolled irrigation water supply mediums in Indian farms is the real reason.
Bhutan is actually helping to lift the barrier. According to a statement issued on Facebook by Bhutan’s Foreign Ministry, Assam’s Baksa and Udalguri districts have been taking advantage of Bhutan’s water sources for decades and the current difficult of the Kovid-19 epidemic. They are also taking advantage of them in time.
It states that the people of Bhutan, especially those living near the borders of India, attach great importance to the years-old relationship of friendship and cooperation with the people of India and to the neighbors living in the border areas in Assam and West Bengal. So especially give importance.
The Foreign Ministry said that such relations of friendship, cooperation and support should continue under these difficult circumstances, adding that Assam’s farmers are not in Bhutan to oversee irrigation channels due to the lockdown in India and the closure of Bhutan’s borders. Are coming as it has been done in the past.
The Ministry of External Affairs said that realizing the difficulties faced by the farmers of Assam, the officials of Bhutan’s Samarit Jongkhar district and the general public have taken the initiative to repair irrigation channels when needed.
Assuring the people of Assam, the ministry said that the Royal Government of Bhutan, especially the officials of Samundrup Jongkhar district, will try to ensure that the monsoon rains are removed without delay so that the farmers of Assam Water should be available.
