Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, May 2: Started way back in 2014, the much talked about Beri Pattan Lift Irrigation Scheme in Sunderbani tehsil of Rajouri district is yet to see the light of the day.
According to sources, more than a decade has passed since over Rs 50 crore Lift Irrigation Scheme was conceived and sanctioned by then Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to irrigate about 40,000 Kanals of Kandi and barren land in Sunderbani tehsil of Rajouri district.
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The foundation stone of the Lift Irrigation Scheme was laid by the then Irrigation and Flood Control Minister, Sham Lal Sharma in 2014 but it was later abandoned after the construction of Receiving Station for power supply, besides earth cutting for the canal bed and construction of platform at the head of the Lift Irrigation Canal for intake of water, sources added.
Sources said over 20,000 local farmers in the area would have been benefitted with the construction of this scheme as over 40,000 Kanals of barren land in this Kandi belt would get irrigated with the result the farmers can cultivate paddy, wheat, vegetables etc in their fields. Even the promotion of horticulture could get boost in this entire belt with the construction of Lift Irrigation Scheme, sources said.
They said the Scheme with its head at Beri Pattan had to pass via Kangri, Chichka, Bajabian, Behnigalla and Bajwal villages but the hopes of the farmers of this entire belt were bellied and their long wait of getting their barren land irrigated and turning green is unending.
Sources said the scheme was sanctioned by then UPA 2 led by Dr Manmohan Singh in 2013 after the issue was taken up with him by a delegation of the people of the area led by the then MLC and Congress spokesperson, Ravinder Sharma.
Under this Centrally Sponsored Scheme 90 percent funds were to be granted by Central Government while 10 percent were to be provided by State Government. But it is not known why the scheme has been abandoned after spending over Rs 15 crore on construction of Receiving Station, earth work of canal platform and bed for intake of the canal, sources added.
Sources said this way crores of rupees of State exchequer have been wasted and with the delay in the construction, the cost would have escalated more than double during last over 10 years.
The Project was abandoned in 2015 after the construction of Receiving Station for power supply to the scheme and construction of platform for canal bed, sources said.
The people who had given the land for construction of irrigation canal have now retrieved it after the work was abandoned, sources said, adding the adjoining houses along the proposed canal were facing threat of being getting collapsed due to land erosion after the completion of earth work for canal platform by the Department. This is the reason that the people who had given their land for construction of canal refilled it with clay and boulders to protect their houses from soil erosion, said Yog Raj president, Cooperative Society Bajwal and a local farmer.
He said the issue was taken up with the Government many times but to no avail as authorities did not bother to restore work on the canal and complete the scheme which has led to a lot of resentment among the farmers of the area.
He said in 2015 the issue was taken up with then Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri and he had released Rs 90 lakh and assured that the work will be restored on the canal but that day never came.
He said it is not known why the scheme was abandoned after spending crores of rupees on it. “We think the scheme was abandoned on political basis otherwise there was no reason for Government to abandon it’’, he added.
Demanding immediate restoration of work on the Irrigation canal, Subedar (retd) Kashmir Singh said that people in this entire belt were cheated by the authorities after abandoning the scheme. There were high hopes among the farming community that their barren fields will turn green but this has not happened as people of this entire belt became the victims of politics. “We hope that present UT Government will take a decision of reviving the scheme’’.
He said the people had at various places planted orange trees but due to lack of irrigation facilities they dried up.
Chief Engineer Irrigation and Flood Control Jammu, Manoj Gupta when contacted told Excelsior that contractual litigations coupled with funds issue led to the abandoning of the work on Lift Irrigation Scheme.
He said besides, urbanisation of the area and construction of houses along the proposed canal alignment, the Project is to be revived on the basis of feasibility. The new DPRs are to be framed for realignment of the canal in such a way that the work already done is properly utilised in new DPR, he added.
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