GK project starts supplying irrigation water
1.16 lakh hectares to be covered in five southwestern dists
GK (Ganges-Kobadak) project yesterday started supplying irrigation water to five southwestern districts for Irri-Boro cultivation.
The project will cover 1.16 lakh hectares of land in Kushtia, Faridpur, Jhenidah, Magura and Chuadanga with a target to produce 3.13 tonnes of paddy in the current season, sources said.
Farmers are happy with the water but are skeptic about uninterrupted supply during the whole season.
The project often failed to ensure smooth water in earlier years due to fall in the water level of Padma.
If water is available in Padma, uninterrupted supply will be maintained, project officials told this correspondent. This will depend on discharge of water at Faraka point.
The project authorities repaired its main Intake Channel and removed dredges from all drains at a cost of Tk 16 crore. It hired two dredgers from a private company.
Bangladesh was supposed to get 43996 cusec water during March 1-10 and 41251 cusec during March 11-20 at Farakka but got 28000 and 27798 cusec respectively, sources said.
“The quantity of water (at Farakka) point has been declining every year due to withdrawal of Ganges water at the upstream”, said a high official of Water Development Board (WDB) in Kushtia.
The GK project totally failed to supply water during 1992-1996 due to low flow of Padma.
The project became operational again after the water sharing treaty was signed with India in 1996.
The GK project was kicked off in 1961 with a target to irrigate 4.88 lakh hectares of land in five southwestern districts.
But it could not cover the targeted area due to unavailability of water.
“We are hopeful of supplying uninterrupted water round the season”, said Project Director of Kushtia WDB Akhter Hossain when contacted over cell phone.
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