Jammu & Kashmir, June 23 -- As an unrelenting heatwave scorches the Kashmir Valley, farmers from north to central and south Kashmir are battling a crippling water crisis that threatens this season's entire paddy crop.

With irrigation canals running dry, groundwater levels dropping, and many traditional water channels either defunct or choked, paddy fields across the region are visibly wilting.

The situation is turning grim just when cultivation is at its peak. Vast tracts of farmland, which should be lush green at this stage, are drying up under the harsh sun, leaving farmers helpless and increasingly desperate.

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