New Delhi: The COVID 19 global pandemic is on the rampage, not only by killing lakhs globally but by also overwhelming healthcare systems.
In India’s Northeast, COVID 19 showed a different dimension of its malevolent side when it played on the fear in the minds of common people of India’s military standoff with China and a border row with Nepal by threatening to undo the bonds of age-old friendship and traditional ties between farmers in western Assam and Bhutanese authorities.
But thankfully it was a futile attempt and was abruptly nipped in the bud by alert authorities.
On Friday, blasting reports that Bhutan had stopped water supply for farmers in Baksa and Udalguri districts in western Assam’s Bodoland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Royal Government of Bhutan, said in a Facebook post: “This is a distressing allegation… It is a deliberate attempt by vested interests to spread misinformation and cause misunderstanding between the friendly people of Bhutan and Assam.”
Western Assam is inhabited by the Bodo tribe, also known for their expertise in a unique form of traditional irrigation through man-made channels cut across the farmlands called ‘Dongs’.
This intricate network of ‘dongs’ sidetrack water from the fast-flowing mountain rivers from the south Bhutanese highlands for the west Assam plains where wet-paddy cultivation is done extensively.
Read: Bhutan rejects as 'totally baseless' media reports on irrigation water stoppage to Assam
Every year just before the monsoons, farmers from western Assam enter Bhutanese territory near the border at the adjoining Samdrup Jongkhar district to repair and maintain these ‘dongs’ on a regular basis.
But this year, with COVID 19 restrictions on, the Bhutan authorities refused to let any of the farmers enter their territory because of the fear of infection that can create havoc in the small Bhutanese population.
On the contrary, the Bhutanese authorities and the general public decided to repair the irrigation channels on their own. “The heavy monsoon rains and sudden rise in the water levels are posing serious challenges, but the Bhutanese authorities, including with heavy machinery, are on standby to clear any blockage and channel the water whenever there is a problem.”
But thinking that Bhutan was sparking off a ‘water war’ by deliberately blocking the water in the ‘dongs’, the Assam farmers took to the streets in protest.
The Bhutanese foreign ministry said in its post: “Since the lockdown in India and closure of Bhutan’s borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Assamese farmers are unable to enter Bhutan to maintain the irrigation channels as was done in the past.”
The post also requested the Assam farmers to bear a little more as “there could be few delays in the flow of water due to disruptions caused by the heavy monsoon rains and the operational difficulties arising from the restrictions put in place by both the countries due to COVID-19.
