For the past three years, farmers from three villages have been without irrigation since a flood destroyed the irrigation canal in Chandannath Municipality-1. Consequently, they have been unable to cultivate red rice paddy during this period.
Ram Bahadur Nepali of Chandannath Municipality-1 Acharyabada said that it has been three years since they could not plant red rice paddy in their fields. He said that because the damaged area could not be repaired easily, the area where the paddy grows is barren.
Irrigation in Bhandaribada, Acharyabada, and Jyulo of Talichour was previously facilitated by the Thinke canal. However, since the fields have been left barren, food shortages have become an issue in the farmers’ lives. He added that he has been sustaining by working as a wage labor due to this problem.
Karna Singh Kulal, who has been doing regular maintenance of the canal and managing irrigation in the fields, said that the production of hundreds of farmers were affected when the canal was destroyed by the landslide. According to him, 443619.134 sq m fields in three villages have not been irrigated. The farmers from 200 households cultivating red rice paddy are encountering difficulties due to their land being affected by floods caused by rain during the construction of the road from Khalanga headquarters to Patarasi. As a result, these farmers are now compelled to purchase rice from the market for their consumption.
Gaurinanda Acharya, Chief of the District Coordination Committee informed that after three years of efforts to bring the canal back into operation before the planting season is ongoing. He mentioned that the repair work on the canal is being carried out with a budget of 60 lakhs allocated by the irrigation office.