Assam: Irrigation department’s activities leave Boko farmers in distress

A CORRESPONDENT

BOKO: The government’s irrigation department is supposed to supply water to farmers to alleviate their inconvenience but the situation is not quite picture perfect in Boko. Villagers have raised concern against the irrigation department as some four kilometers away from the Executive Engineer Office of the Boko-Chaygaon Division, an irrigation project named ‘Medhipara Flow Irrigation Project’ is situated. However, according to the locals, every canal of this project is now blocked and therefore during the cultivation period, there is scarcity of water especially in the paddy fields. The Medhipara Flow Irrigation Project is situated on the Boko river at Bakarapara village under Boko-Chaygaon constituency which covers thousands of bighas of paddy land.

Bhaben Rabha, a farmer and retired defence personnel, said that the project covers several paddy lands including Goptapothar, Shosankhaliya, Borghuli, Kotolgaon, and many other paddy fields which comprise thousands of bighas of land under the Bakarapara, Raipara, Medhipara, Bhehuwa, Kaithpara, Auniati, Bojrapara, Katalgaon, and many other villages. Rabha alleged that due the negligence of duty of the Boko-Chaygaon division of the irrigation department, the Medhipara Flowing Irrigation Project’s canals are now blocked with overgrowth.

Dimbeeswar Das from Belpara village emphasized, “The government has spent crores of rupees for a project to supply water to the paddy fields, which includes salaries of the department’s staff but in the end farmers are not getting water in the paddy fields properly.” Das also added, “Canals are now full of grass and trees and therefore the river water doesn’t reach the paddy fields during the cultivation period.”

Bhaben Rabha also said that they had informed the concerned department many times but the officials made various excuses regarding the issue. Rabha alleged that in the rainy season, some villages like Bakarapara and Belpara are flooded with the river water. “A road under the bridge of the Guwahati-Bongaigaon railway line is flooded by water due to the negligence of the officials of irrigation dept and therefore several villagers face difficulties in transportation,” alleged Bhaben Rabha.

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