"We have been left with no option but to block the highway to wake up the administration to our urgent need for water to irrigate our lands," Javaid Ahmad, a farmer from Barsoo village in Awantipora area of Pulwama district, said.
Only few days were left for sowing paddy but the concerned authorities did not pay any attention to the request of farmers to restore irrigation facilities in the area, Ahmed claimed.
The blocked highway left thousands passengers, including tourists, stranded along the 294-km road.
Policemen have been rushed to the spot to clear the highway off the protestors, a traffic department official said.