Facing water shortage, farmers led by the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) today held a protest demanding release of water in Western Yamuna canal from Hamida headworks. In view of the BKU threat to open the gates of the headworks, a heavy police force was deployed at the headworks since morning. Staging dharna at Hamida headworks, state president of the BKU Gurnam Singh said farmers in many parts of the state had been facing acute water shortage as water was not being released from Hamida headworks. Farmers said they neither have water for irrigation purpose nor for animals. They have also been demanding that the Western Yamuna Canal should not be made concrete as it would further decrease the water level. They said arrangements should be made to provide drinking water for animals in each village along the canal. The check dam should be made in Western Yamuna Canal to store and reduce the speed of water at different places, he added. The BKU president also claimed that the state had been supplying more water to Delhi then its stipulated quota. Moreover, the state government had motivated the farmers for turmeric farming but failed to purchase the same from the farmers. Keeping in view the tense situation, SDM HC Jain, DSP Krishan and Dadupur XEN SN Bhardwaj held a meeting with the farmers for over two hours. The farmers lifted the dharna in the afternoon after Jain convinced the BKU leaders that a list of their demands had been sent to the Chief Minister through the Ambala commissioner and the Irrigation Department released nominal water in the canal. Bhardwaj told The Tribune that there was not much water at the headwork and water level at the headwork was 1,848 cusecs today.