Three decades of Mahakali Treaty: Mahakali Irrigation Project's canal still runs dry

Mahendranagar, Jan 1: Nearly three decades have passed since the Nepal–India Mahakali Treaty was signed, yet there is still no sign of water flowing through the main canal of the Mahakali Irrigation Project Phase III. 

According to the treaty, India is required to release 1,000 cusecs of water toward Nepal during the rainy season and 300 cusecs during the dry season from the Tanakpur Barrage.

Nepal has prepared some irrigation infrastructure in anticipation of the water release. Although India released water twice on a trial basis, regular and consistent release has reportedly not taken place. The Mahakali Irrigation Project Phase III has repeatedly demanded the full implementation of the agreement and has also constructed several auxiliary canals.

Despite steady physical progress in this national pride project, uncertainty over the release of water from the Tanakpur Barrage persists. The project, which began about 18 years ago with the goal of providing irrigation to 33,520 hectares of land in Kanchanpur and Kailali districts, has achieved  27 percent progress so far, with an investment of around Rs 9 billion.

Project Engineer Rajesh Pokhrel said that the project office has already written to the concerned ministry requesting facilitation to ensure water release from India, but no concrete result has been achieved. “When we contact the Indian side, we are repeatedly told that water will be released only after instructions come from the higher level,” he said, stressing that initiation from the top level is essential.

Former Sudurpashchim Province minister and Provincial Assembly member Prakash Rawal stressed that the federal government must take the issue of irrigation for farmers seriously. “We are uncertain about when water will flow through the main canal of the Mahakali Irrigation Project and when it will finally reach farmers’ fields,” he said.

Mahendranagar-based social worker Leela Dhwaj said the treaty was signed hastily without sufficient study, and its consequences are now evident. He urged the federal government to take the matter seriously and ensure proper enforcement of the treaty.

Farmers in the targeted areas have long depended on groundwater and rainfall for cultivation. A farmer from Bedkot Municipality, Bhim Chaudhary, said, “Years have passed with the hope that irrigation facilities would be availed from the much-hyped Mahakali Irrigation Project, but there is still no sign of it.” The Mahakali Treaty between Nepal and India was signed in 2052 B.S. (RSS)