The Jamuni Irrigation Project, which has been stalled for five years, has gained momentum. Contractor Kisan Construction Pvt. Ltd., Kathmandu, has started work at the project construction site since last week.

The project had been incomplete for five years due to compensation disputes and the lack of electric gates at the barrage. Kisan Construction, which won the tender called by the Irrigation Department for Rs 121.23817, has started construction work since last week.

Suresh Prasad Sah, Engineer and Information Officer of the Narayani Irrigation Management Office, said that the contractor company has started the construction of the office building, warehouse and watchman building at the project site. Other buildings will also be constructed gradually.

Sah claimed that there will be no obstacles in the construction work of the project from the locals as the compensation distribution work for the land located on the coastal area of ​​the barrage will also continue simultaneously. The locals are responsible for distributing compensation for about 17 bighas, 10 katthas and 10 dhurs of land lying on the embankment of the barrage, and compensation for more than 11 bighas of land has been distributed. 

The main structure of the irrigation scheme on the border of Adarsh ​​Kotwal Rural Municipality and Pachrauta Municipality of Bara has been constructed 5 years ago with the grant of the Government of Nepal and a loan from the World Bank. 350 million rupees have been spent on the scheme.

The work of the Jamuni Irrigation Scheme was started 6 years ago as an ambitious plan to provide irrigation facilities to farmers in the eastern part of Bara and the western part of Rautahat throughout the year. But the work of installing electric gates in the barrage had not been started.

After the construction of the barrage, the work of constructing the embankment at a cost of 120 million rupees was also started 3 years ago. But the work of constructing the embankment was also stopped after only 80 percent was completed. The work of constructing the embankment also remained incomplete after the Birgunj High Court issued a 'stay order' in last Jestha, taking the stand that the work would not be allowed to proceed until the landowners in the flooded area received compensation.

The embankment under construction from the barrage to the north of the barrage for water storage purposes covers about 17 bighas of land belonging to more than 100 local farmers. Now, Sah said that the remaining work of the embankment will also be completed.

After the scheme comes into operation, water will be available from block number 11 to 15 of the Gandak Canal for twelve months.

From which, farmers in the eastern part of Bara and the western part of Rautahat will benefit. Although it has been in operation since 1971, water generally does not reach the last 4 blocks of the Gandak Canal. The Jamuni Irrigation Scheme has been constructed as an alternative to that. 

The barrage and its structures are being constructed through the Narayani Irrigation Management Office, Birgunj. Under the scheme, the construction of the barrage and its other structures started in the fiscal year 2072/073 and the construction of the barrage has been completed in the fiscal year 2076/077.

There are a total of 13 gates in the Jamuni Barrage. There are 4 gates in the lower part of the river. 2 gates will be head regulators. Once the canal is operational, 7,500 liters of water will be available in the canal per second. Under normal conditions, 25,000 liters of water are flowing in the Jamuni River per second. During floods, more than 400,000 liters of water flow into this river per second.

The Jamuni Barrage itself is a large project and during floods, the barrage gates need to be opened due to the flow of more water in the river. At that time, 3 to 4 people are required per gate to open the gates in the traditional way.

However, if the gates are electric, the gates of the barrage will open as soon as they are switched on. This will reduce the human and physical risks in the barrage. If the gates are not opened in time during floods, there is a strong possibility that the river may divert its course. In such a situation, the barrage will become useless and there may be a huge loss of life and property in the surrounding villages.