 |
Kathmandu Sunday July 29, 2001 Shrawan 14, 2058.
|
Dunduwa irrigation project can be revived :
Report
Post Report
BANKE, July 28 - A preliminary feasibility study carried out
on the oldest but already out-of-order Dunduwa irrigation project could be brought into
full operation for a long time with an additional investment on its reconstruction, a
report submitted to the District Irrigation Office (DIO) stated.
The report said that an estimated Rs 50 million could be
adequate to bring the abandoned irrigation project back to life.
Constructed about 40 years ago, almost all the structure
developed for the Dunduwa irrigation project can also be used by the Sikta irrigation
project under construction, an official at the DIO said.
The report said that the ongoing Sikta project could also be
linked up with the Dunduwa project network, which was developed with a view to providing
irrigation facility to about 2,000 hectares of land in the Banke district.
The feasibility report, carried out jointly by an independent
consulting agency - Appropriate Technology Consulting Service -and technicians from the
DIO, claimed that more than two cubic metres of water could be available from the project
even in the dry season. The report said that the volume of water available during the lean
season would help irrigate more than 1,000 hectares of land.
Initially, the project was providing irrigation facility to
the 11 VDCs of the district once it was completed, and inaugurated by Late King Mahendra,
about 40 years ago. But it has remained non-functional over the last six years, with no
government plan of its revival.
A DIO source also said that the Irrigation Department has
also shown keen interest in reviving the project and the government has also allocated
about Rs 10 million for the same during this current fiscal year.
Other Stories
|
