Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 10: The J&K Climate Action Group (JKCAG) and Alamdar Welfare Society (AWS) Gopalpora today urged the authorities to take up immediate desiltation and restoration of a major irrigation canal in the Chadoora area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district.
The demand was raised during a meeting of a JKCAG-AWS delegation with Director, Rural Development Department (RDD) Kashmir, Shabir Hussain Bhat.
The delegation was led by Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat along with Abdul Rashid Baba and Abdul Rashid Wagay.
“A major irrigation canal, locally known as Kralpur Kul and stretching about 13 kilometers from Wathoora Sheikhpora to Mochwa, needs urgent desilting. Some work has been taken up in the Kralpora and Dharambugh areas of BK Pora block, but there is an immediate need for desiltation in Sheikhpora Wathoora, Zolwa, and Gopalpora areas as well,” Dr Bhat said.
He added that the silt, muck, and solid waste have choked the canal at multiple locations.
“This canal irrigates nearly 7,000 kanals of agricultural land, but the Irrigation Department lacks funds to restore it.”
We urged the Director RDD to support us, and he kindly agreed to this public demand, assuring that work would start soon before the onset of winter, he said.
It is pertinent to mention that Kralpur Kul and two other small irrigation canals-Masar Kul and Doyan Kul-were recently damaged during the September floods, as illegal riverbed mining had weakened the embankments of the Doodh Ganga stream.
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