Improper digging hampers Ranbir Canal desilting

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 28

The ongoing silt-clearance project undertaken by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department in Ranbir Canal seems to be a mere formality as the digging work at many places in the canal to lift garbage and silt is not being done properly.

Sources said due to heaps of garbage gathered in the canal at many areas, especially in the RS Pura subdivision comprising Bishnah, Arnia, Miran Sahib and RS Pura areas, there was a requirement of deep digging up to 5-10 feet but that did not happen. The residents, too, were complaining that despite JCB machines being pressed into service, garbage and silt can still be seen in the canal.

The sources said the same was the case in areas like Muthi, Domana and Mishriwala, where the canal flows along the Akhnoor-Poonch highway. As compared to RS Pura area, there is more silt in the canal here which requires digging up to 7-10 feet but it was done only up to 4-6 feet. This later becomes a problem as water sometimes overflows out of the canal.

“There is no fixed criteria of how much digging has to be done in the canal. More silt and garbage in the canal means deeper digging to lift the silt so that water can be flown freely,” an engineer said.

Ranbir Canal was completed in 1905 and has a total length of 60 km, excluding its tributaries. It takes off from the left of the Chenab upstream Akhnoor Bridge which is 30 km north-east of Jammu city.