Low rainfall hits Saptari farmers hard

RAJBIRAJ, August 2

Farmers in Saptari have been hit hard as the canal that irrigates their farmlands does not have enough water, as the local river it draws on is running dry, due to insufficient rainfall.

Though the Chandra Canal, the grand old canal of Saptari, had been irrigating around 10,400 hectares of land earlier, this time the canal has fallen short to irrigate the usual swathe of land, as the water level in the Triyuga River that feeds the canal is low.

As per the sources of the canal Irrigation Division No 2, the canal that otherwise would see 400 cusec of water has less than 150 cusec of water.

“First there was insufficient rainfall and then three embankments were built at the origin of the river in Udayapur recently, which has also contributed to the less water flow in the canal,” said acting division chief engineer Shatrughan Prasad Sah.

“Though the canal irrigates 29 VDCs, this time only 10 VDCs were irrigated,” said engineer Badri Narayan Sah, adding that the VDCs where the canal is irrigating the fields are getting water on alternate weeks.

The irrigation office has informed that it has been facing problems in distributing canal water, as the subsidiary water channels are in need of repair.