Uttarakhand : 35 canals of irrigation department damaged due to disaster
In the Dagar, Lostu Badiyargarh and Kadakot areas of development block Kirtinagar, more than 35 canals (guls) of the Irrigation Department have been damaged due to the disaster of August 20. On some of these, the department has made alternative arrangements for irrigation by adding pipes etc., whereas the department has no other option than to rebuild the 15 canals completely damaged. In such a situation, if the canals are not repaired on time, many hectares of farmers’ fields will get ruined.
Rakesh Bartwal, former head of Lostu Badiyardh region, said that the disaster has caused huge damage to agricultural land in the area. At many places, canals up to 300 to 500 meters are completely damaged. Now irrigating the remaining agricultural land has become a challenge for the farmers. If these canals (gullies) are not constructed on time, then the whole land will turn into barren. When a request was made to the department in this regard, they also avoided the problem by stating the lack of budget.
In the damaged 35 canals of the department, water is being run on 20 by alternative arrangement. Estimates have been prepared in various schemes for the construction of remaining 15 highly damaged canals (gullies) and sent to the district and the government. Once the budget is approved, the construction work will start. -MS Baluni, Assistant Engineer Irrigation Sub Division Kirtinagar.
