Canal breach: Floods here, water shortage there

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, November 20

With farmers busy in sowing and irrigating the germinated wheat crop in the region, lack of canal water supply at the tail-ends due to breaches has become a major cause for concern.

A breach in the Juglan minor in Bahbalpur village of the district flooded some fields wherein farmers had sown the wheat crop a few days ago. Irrigation officials, with the help of farmers, managed to plug the breach by the evening.

The farmers complained that poor maintenance and technical flaws in the minor had been resulting in frequent breaches, causing frequent losses to them.

Azad Singh, whose newly sown crop was flooded, said the walls of the minor had become very weak. “Blockage due to broken tree branches cause water to overflow though we desilt the minor and clear the blockage. The canal requires repairs for smooth flow of water,” he said.

Another farmer, Satish Kumar, said the breaches, besides inundating the fields, deprived those located at the tail-ends of water.

Farmers in the Balsamand region of the district complained that they had not been getting adequate supply. The Kisan Jal Sangharsh Samiti, which had surveyed the district, called a mahapanchayat in the village tomorrow.

District president Kurdaram Nambardar said despite agitations and representations, problems in irrigation persisted for farmers whose land was located at the tail-ends.

“Farmers are facing problems due to lack of maintenance of canals and minors, which is the main reason for breaches. Due to this, water does not reach the tail-ends,” he said.

Though the government claimed to have spent huge funds for maintenance of canals, the problem had brought the ground reality to the fore, he emphasised.