 Arun Jasrotia
Early Times Report
Udhampur, Oct 1: For the benefit of farmers, the successive governments in J&K have, from time to time, launched many schemes, but on the ground the farmers don't get due benefit from such schemes.
Take for instance the irrigation Khul (artificial canal) at Nallah Mallian village of Ghordi block in district Udhampur. It was constructed from Nallah Mallian to Malog to Chak in early 1990s as per the locals to address the water woes of local farmers. Khuls are the traditional irrigation system diverting water from natural flowing streams towards the fields.
But for many years now Nallah Mallian Khul has dried up, because the Khul got damaged due to rainfall and floods. "Crores of rupees were spent on construction of the Khul, but all in vain as there is no benefit of it to us," a local farmer told Early Times.
Most of the people living in the village are dependent on agriculture, and due to non-availability of water in the irrigation Khul the local farmers are the worst suffers. If the Khul was in a working state, it would have meant that farmers of almost six villages would have benefited. But the Irrigation department appears unmoved.
Naseeb Singh, Kishor Tripathi, Shankar Bhagat and other locals of Nallah Mallian while talking to Early Times said that hundreds of kanals of agriculture land depend on the Khul for irrigation. But after the Khul was damaged, the local farmers have suffered a lot.
They alleged that when the Khul got damaged, they immediately informed the Irrigation department but to no avail, as till date nothing has been done by the department concerned.
"Five years ago when we approached the higher officials of the department they cited paucity of funds for not repairing the Khul," the farmers said. |
