Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 18: After yesterday’s clashes in South Kashmir district of Shopian between people of two villages in which atleast a dozen of villagers were injured, authorities today imposed curfew in these two villages of Reban and Khojepora in Zainapora area to maintain peace.
The situation turned ugly in the area on Thursday after a dispute between two villages over digging of irrigation canal led to clashes.
Residents of Reban said that they have been facing water shortage for years due to which a portion of their crop is damaged every year. “This season when shortage of rainfall again wreck havoc on our farms, we decided to construct an irrigation canal to put an end to water crisis permanently,” locals said, adding, after completing digging of canal in village farmlands, other village Khojepora objected the further digging in their farmland. They said: “The canal is useless till it is not completed to other end.”
Since yesterday evening, the district administration has imposed Section 144 in both the villages and curfew was also imposed at the incident site.
SHO, Zainapora, Hussain Ahmad told Excelsior that to maintain law and order in the villages, additional security forces were deployed in the area and also Section 144 was imposed in the area.
He said the decision to impose Section 144 was taken for the safety of public and also keeping in view yesterday’s scuffle followed by stone pelting on the police contingent in which two police men also got injured.
Police on Thursday fired tear smoke shells to disperse protesters.
SHO, however, said that situation today remained normal throughout the day and people were allowed to offer Friday prayers.
Keeping in view the escalating tension in the area, inhabitants of Reban approached district administration for timely intervention.
“We tried to resolve the matter at village level, but failed to reach any consensus, so we have decided to approach district administration for addressing that grievances as early as possible,” they said.
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