Tanahun, July 28:

An irrigation project has been lying unrepaired in Tanahun district due to a dispute between people of two villages.

Due to the dispute, two lakh rupees earmarked for repairing a canal of the Aagauli Puttar Irrigation Project (APIP) has been lying idle. The dispute between people of Aatrauli Phant and Puttar Phant has also come in the way of formation of a users’ committee, which is supposed to look after the project, said Tanahun Irrigation Sub-division Office No. 3.

Chief of the office Indra Kumar Misra said budget allocated for the repair work has been lying idle due to the dispute.

People of Puttar Phant accuse Aatrauli Phant people of not releasing enough water for them. On the other hand, Aatrauli Phant people accuse Puttar Phant people of obstructing the formation of the users’ committee.

Engineer of the sub-division office Ram Sundar Chaudhari said, “We tried time and time again to form the committee, to no avail.”

Because of the dispute, roughly 300 hectares out of 700 hectares of arable land has been lying uncultivated. The 27-km canal is the longest in the district.

Secretary of Gajarkot VDC Balaram Garhai said attempts to form a users’ committee had failed even after six rounds of meeting. Even local political leaders have failed to solve the dispute, he said.

The World Bank had commissioned the project in 1995.