Petlawad (Madhya Pradesh): Hundreds of farmers who own agriculture land in the command area of the Mahi project are on the verge of losing their wheat crop sown on thousands of hectares due to gross irregularities and corruption in the canal construction of the Mahi project.
Farmers claim that, despite the fact that the main dam of the Mahi project was filled to capacity this year, they are not getting enough water to irrigate their fields due to damaged canals built at a cost of crores.
Farmers alleged that rampant corruption in canal construction has resulted in low-quality construction leading to breaches in the canal system at various places which has led to water spillover at various locations, resulting in flooded fields in some areas and a lack of water in other areas.
Bheru Singh Chauhan, a senior social worker in Karwad, said that one farmer, Rameshwar Patidar, 40, of his village, who owns 40 bighas of land, threatened to commit suicide because he couldn't get water. Chauhan accused senior officials of acting arbitrarily, which resulted in a lack of water in the command area.
He is not the only farmer who has had to bear the brunt of it; thousands of other farmers from various villages have been ruined as a result of a lack of water.
It is surprising that water is being wasted indiscriminately despite the fact that the main canal has been repaired at a high cost.
Every year, the work of repairing and cleaning canals is done, but farmers face difficulties due to a lack of technical attention paid by the concerned officials. There are a total of 20 consumer organisations working in the field of water resources yet none of them are concerned with farmer grievances.
Quotes
“Our department has received no complaints, the target was to irrigate 17,000 hectares of land, which has been achieved”.
Devendra Dabur, SDO, Water Resources Department
“Sufficient water has been given, but damage in the canals many times causes problems, yet the department is trying to ensure that the farmers get water on time”.
Dheeraj Jamod, SDO, Mahi Project
“The cleaning of Mahi's canals is done by the elected water bodies, but lack of funds also causes problems”.
Agni Narayan Singh, president, Water Consumers Association Bodayata
