Release of water in Sikta irrigation canal pleases farmers

By Siraj Khan Nepalgunj, July 16:  For the convenience of hundreds of farmers, who have been facing problems to manage water to irrigate their land even by mid-July in the eastern region of Banke district, the Sikta Irrigation Project (SIP) has released water up to the 24 km stretch of ​​the eastern canal from the head works in Agaiya.

The project has released water in the 24-km section since Friday, and it will help irrigate additional 2,000 hectares of land, informed Director of the SIP Dr. Santosh Kaini.  

He said that until now irrigation facility was being provided for 16,000 hectares of land from the western main canal and 1,000 hectares from Rajkulo.

The project informed that 4 cumec (a cubic metre flow per second) of water has been flowed in the 24 km section of the eastern main canal responding to the demand of the farmers to pro vide irrigation facility as the paddy seedlings as well as the paddy planted by using boring water started drying up since the area has not received rain for many days.

Tapta Paudel, chairman of Raptisonari Rural Municipality, said that 19,521 people of the area will be directly benefitted as the water will be diverted from 24 km of the canal to Ward Nos. 6 and 7 of Raptisonari towards Fattepur. He said that after the water was 

released in the canal, the farmers of the area were happy and started making preparations for planting paddy. 

Paudel said that with the release of water in the canal, the farmers of that region would be able to cultivate various crops round the year.

Similarly, Dhaniram Chowdhury, a farmer of Raptisonari-6, expressed his happiness and said that he was worried about the drought but when he saw water flowing in the canal, he was happy and immediately went to the field and started works to prepare paddy filed. He stated that the canal is the life of the farmer and demanded that it should be kept running throughout the year.

Jiban Tharu, another farmer from Fattepur, said that due to lack of rain, the paddy planted by most of the farmers in the area have dried up. “When I saw water flowing in the canal, I felt that it is not water but food grains,” he said. 

Sujit Shrestha, Director of Kumar Construction, said that 86 per cent of canal work in the area of ​​44 km from Agaiya has been completed and the remaining 14 per cent work is being implemented at a rapid pace.

Chief District Officer of Banke Surya Bahadur Khatri, Chairman of Raptisonari Paudel, Director of SIP Dr. Kaini, President of SIP Water User Committee Shalikram Dangi and the project’s staff have reached from Agaiya to Fattepur.

The Sikta Irrigation Project, built by constructing a dam on the Rapti River at Agaiya in Banke, aims to provide reliable irrigation facility to 42,766 hectares of land in the district. 

While the target is to provide irrigation facilities to 33,766 hectares in the western part and 9,000 hectares in the northern part of the district, irrigation facilities have been available in 19,000 hectares so far.