By Kanchan Vasdev | The Indian Express | Punjab |
For 40 years, no water could flow through a 5-km stretch of a canal-water outlet in Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib, as it had been encroached on by farmers. But it has been cleared with government help and canal water now reaches at least 300 acres in Bharpoorgarh and Mallowal villages.
“We did not switch on 15-20 tubewells in the entire paddy season last year. This time also, we are not using groundwater to transplant paddy. We are making use of only canal water,” said Ravinder Singh, 32, a farmer who had sought help from the water resources department to get the 5-km stretch, known as nehri khaal, cleared of encroachments.
The AAP government’s promise to provide canal water in the tail ends had rekindled his hopes. With the efforts of the village youth and employees of the department, the outlet was cleaned before the paddy season last year.
“We did not know there was a khaal passing through our village. We used to hear from our family elders that there used to be canal water supply to our village and that clean and cold water from the canal network would reach here. When the tubewells reached every village of Punjab, the farmers usurped the outlets and ploughed them and started growing crops,” Ravinder Singh told The Indian Express.
“We got in touch with the canal department. They helped us in getting the land back. We all worked together to get these outlets dug up, remove the weeds and start the water supply. We have achieved it. In our village alone, 30-40 per cent of irrigation is done with this canal water. You can imagine how much water and power we are able to save. Our mission now is to make it 60 to 70 per cent so that more water is saved,” he added.
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