Crores Spent Only To Shelve Projects, Farmers Left In Lurch

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: After spending crore of taxpayers’ money for several years the Irrigation department is now on a spree to shelve schemes meant to provide water to farmers for agriculture purposes in the State.

While the department has already shelved 60 schemes citing technical faults, several other schemes will meet the same fate in case they are not completed within the newly stipulated deadlines.

The chaotic state-of-affairs in Irrigation department has reached such a pass that farmers are organizing frogs marriages to please the Rain God to tackle the prevailing drought-like situation in different parts of the State. Farmers have totally lost faith in the Irrigation department.

Sources told The Sentinel that it is not only a matter of serious concern but also a mystery as who approved and released funds to technically faulty schemes of the Irrigation department for so many years. The State Government must constitute a high-level inquiry to find out the culprits, the source said.

As per official records 27 lakh hectares of agriculture land need irrigation facilities for cultivation throughout the year. But the Irrigation department has been able to cover only 24 per cent of such land.

“Lack of maintenance has caused deterioration in the existing irrigation facilities. Rusting has rendered many water lifting machines non-functional in many paddy fields,” the source said.

There are various reasons for the present pathetic and chaotic condition in the Irrigation department. Non-availability of funds to repair pumps and machines in time has virtually made many irrigation schemes to exist only in papers. Farmers have not benefitted at all by these schemes.

Many surface water lifting and ground water lifting machines have failed to function as per their capacities due to erratic power supply.

Stealing of water pumps has become a menace in Irrigation department. Hundreds of pumps were stolen from paddy fields in the last few years and the number of such incidents is rising.

At a time when Dispur is claiming to bring about an agriculture revolution, the present scene in Irrigation department is likely to puncture such tall claim.

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