SG Canal Breaches at several places, Irrigation department’s callousness flows unabated.
Trees of forest department cut illegally.
SIRSA NEWS ( www.SirsaNews.com )
25 July, 2011
Pictures & Videos: Amar Singh Jyani, GS Mann.
This Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dWYioApAmI
The recent row between and allegations and counter allegation between Forest Department and Irrigation has exposed the shortcomings of both the departments.
Around the Van Mahotsav Day scoops by media including The Tribune exposed that lot of trees were felled illegally around Ottu Weir. Senior Officers of Forest department at first defended by stating that the trees were not on forest land but on land of the irrigation department, however SE Irrigation Mr. SS Hudda refuted the charges to be false and asserted that the trees were in fact on the land for forest area and not on the land of Irrigation department, later forest department had to admit its fault and initiated charges against it erring employees. Now in more recent statement, DFO Mr. Naresh Ranga said that the Irrigation department never sent them notification regarding Malikaana Haq hence the land does not belong to the Forest department. The controversy is still ping ponging between the two departments.
Trees apart, irrigation department is also full of its own callousness, while everyone is made aware of importance of water conservation and judicious use of water, but irrigation department cannot take care of its own canals. The Twin SGC (Southern Ghaggar Canal) and NGC (Northern Ghaggar Canal) that offshoot from Ottu weir, both these canals like any other canal in Distt Sirsa are in a state of apathy, with wild growth of bushes, even on the bricked-lined canal walls, un-cared banks which have fallen much narrower than the design size either by soil erosion or as many locals state that they were never built up to the specification and design.
The SG Canals are two canals that run parallel to each other, one of these is Kutcha canal and the other one is a Brick lined Canal. These canals off-shoot from Ottu Weir and serve several villages between Moujdeen and Talwara. These canals were carved out of one single wider Kutcha Canal by the way of SGC remodelling project. Since its completion way back in early years of last decade (around 2004), these canals never had even a single year of breach less run. Every year huge expenditure is done on the repair of these two for the breaches but every time water is released into any of these they breach again and again. During times when there is no flood water in the Ghaggar river, only one brick-lined canal serves the area with Bhakra Waters, but since its inception it could never carry Bhakra waters in it properly, due to invariable breaches in the middle bank flowing the water into the Kutcha Canal and making the water useless. The concerned officers always give lame excuses of one or other kind and some times also whisper on condition of anonymity that the canals that were constructed during the previous government’s tenure were built by wily contractors and were not built up to design specifications. It is notable that only recently more than 2 dozen employees of Irrigation department, right from JE up to SE, the senior most officer at Distt level, were suspended following a high level inquiry into charges of corruption and negligence towards duty, but the department seems to work with same flavour even today. Farmers in the area prefer to remain silent as complaints at this time shall mean shut down of the canals for the purpose of repairs, and at this time when precious waters are much needed they cannot afford any Bandhi in the canals what so ever be the condition of the canals.
