Hundreds of farmers and landowners in Balochistan's Naseerabad district have taken to the streets, blocking the National Highway at Kajla Laro in a sit-in protest against what they call the politically motivated shutting off of irrigation water to their agricultural canals. The protest, led by farmers' leader Rais Nazim Khan Umrani, targeted the closure of water supplies to the Table Branch and Manjhoti Branch canals, with demonstrators demanding the immediate restoration of water to their fields. Main Developments Former Balochistan provincial minister Mir Sikandar Ali Khan Umrani addressed the crowd, claiming that irrigation water was being deliberately cut off on political grounds, describing the situation as an "economic killing" of farmers and landowners in the region. Read also: Pakistan's Nuclear Science Triumph Signals Bigger Ambitions He alleged that the water closure has rendered hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural land barren, resulting in losses worth billions of rupees and severely damaging the province's agriculture sector. The former minister characterized the actions as political victimisation and economic exploitation of residents tied to the two canal branches. Background Naseerabad's agricultural economy depends heavily on canal irrigation from the Table Branch and Manjhoti Branch systems, which serve local farming communities and landowners who rely on consistent water access for their crops. Umrani said that never in the history of Naseerabad have farmers and landowners faced such injustice through the closure of irrigation water as they are facing today, framing the current crisis as unprecedented for the region. Why It Matters The blockade of a national highway disrupts transportation and commerce in the area, while the underlying water dispute threatens the livelihoods of thousands of farming families who depend on agriculture for their survival. The protest underscores growing tensions between local communities and provincial authorities over resource management, with farmers insisting that access to irrigation water is a legal right and that denying it amounts to political retaliation rather than administrative necessity. What's Next Umrani questioned the chief minister and senior government officials over why farmers of the Table Branch and Manjhoti Branch areas are being deprived of irrigation water and why their agricultural lands are being rendered barren. He warned that if the water supply is not restored immediately, the protest movement would be expanded, raising the prospect of an extended standoff that could further disrupt the national highway and regional economic activity.