BHARATPUR, May 28: Irrigation has been provided to 3,360 bighas of land in the past three years in Chitwan district through deep and shallow tube-wells.
Under the Chitwan Underground Integrated Water Irrigation Project, 40 deep tubewells and 360 shallow tube wells have been built to provide irrigation.
Chief of the project, Dev Kumar Syangbo, said that 3,360 bighas of land in Chitwan receive irrigation in all seasons.
The Project has built the shallow tube-wells under complete grants while the locals' participation is limited to five percent in the case of deep tubewells. "For this, the farmers can also offer labor donations," Syangbo added.
Damage to irrigation amounts to Rs 2.42 billion
A shallow tube well has been built in the area for four bighas of land while a deep tube-well irrigates 40 bighas of land.
Syangbo argued that the water level in Chitwan has not receded despite extracting the underground water for the irrigation facilities as the land in the district lies on the banks of the Narayani and Rapti rivers.
With the availability of irrigation in all seasons, the farmers in Chitwan have been attracted towards underground irrigation.
Indira Bote, a farmer from Bharatpur Metropolitan City-22, said they have produced good quantities of crops and life has become much easier after the deep tube-wells were dug.
Installation of the tubewells has resulted in good production of mustard and maize, and farming of off-season crops has been possible along with better production, another farmer Kamala Dhakal said.
Likewise, Bharatpur Metropolitan City has accorded top priority to underground irrigation facilities.
Mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City Renu Dahal shared that more than 7,000 bighas of land have now been irrigated in the city in the past five years. "There has been an agricultural revolution in the irrigation system in Bharatpur. The entire arable land in the metropolitan city will receive irrigation in the coming four years," Dahal promised.
(RSS)
