The Hindu : Karnataka / Raichur News : Narayanpur canal: A long wait for Raichur farmers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 02, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Raichur

Narayanpur canal: A long wait for Raichur farmers

By D.K. Kishan Rao

RAICHUR, MAY 1. People in Lingsugur and Deodurga taluks in Raichur district had high hopes when the State Government announced that water would be released into the 95-km Narayanapur Right Bank Canal (NRBC) of the Upper Krishna Project. But their hopes have not come true.

A function was held on March 3, 2000 to launch the release of water from the Narayanapur Dam. The Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, who launched the facility, announced that water would be released up to the 18th km of the canal to help sow kharif crops that year.

The Government has said that the completion of the Alamatti Dam and the storage of the State's share of Krishna waters are major achievements. It has given an impression that water scarcity in drought-prone areas under the project was a thing of the past. But that does not seem to be the reality.

Mr. Krishna said recently that the Government had spent Rs. 10,000 crore in the past four years on creating more irrigation potential under the project. Of the 734 tmcft. (10 million cubic feet) of Krishna waters allocated to the State under Scheme A of the Bachawat Award, 173 tmcft. has been allocated under the project. Of this, 23.33 tmcft. has been allocated to the canal.

But the Government has not been able to utilise even one tmcft of water from the allocation to the canal. Though adequate Krishna waters were stored in the Alamatti and Narayanpur dams in the previous monsoon, crops in the command area of the canal were denied irrigation during the kharif and rabi seasons.

It has been planned to extend irrigation facility to 84,000 hectares of land in Lingsugur and Deodurga taluks up to the 95th km of the canal under Scheme A and 72,000 hectares in Raichur taluk between the 95th km and 157th km (tail-end) under Scheme B of the project. Though the excavation of the main canal was completed up to the 95th km long ago, the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam has not speeded up the work on the distributaries, field channels and laterals.

In fact, the department had plans to provide water up to the 18th km of the canal by December 2000, between 18th km and 65th km by May 2001, 65th km and 85th km by August 2001, and 85th km and 95th km by December 2001. However, irrigation facility has not been extended beyond the 18th km as the work on the distributaries and field channels has not been completed.

Till August last year, the department had been able to complete the lining work on the main canal and 12 distributaries up to the 70th km stretch. Only the earthwork was completed between the 70th km and 85th km. The work on the field channels and laterals between the fifth km and 12th km is not in progress. No work is in progress between the 85th km and 95th km of the canal too. In September last, water was released up to the 50th km on trial basis.

Of the total 84,000 hectares projected to be brought under irrigation under Scheme A, the department was able to create irrigation potential for 44,690 hectares till March last year. It was proposed to irrigate 23,763 hectares by June last. However, only 182 hectares was irrigated till July last and it was extended to 2,372 hectares by August-end. With the progress of work on some distributaries up to the 40th km, it will able to irrigate about 14,000 hectares. However, the farmers who have taken up rabi cultivation where field channels are ready have been facing water shortage owing to the leakage in the main canal and damage to many distributaries and field channels in several stretches. The Government has vowed to provide irrigation up to the 95th km stretch by this December.

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