The royal clans that irrigated the fertile lands of Madhesh and quenched the thirst of the indigenous settlements have been almost wiped out in recent times.
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Chandrapur Municipality has shown active efforts to revive the historic 'Rajkulo', which is considered the lifeline of the northern region. The municipality has issued a notice to restore the Rajkulo, which has been encroached upon for decades and buried under the foundations of roads and houses, to its original state.
After the decades-old Rajkulo flowing south from the Chure was destroyed, the main source of irrigation has been affected. Farmers have been hit the hardest. Rajkulo was once the main basis for irrigating fertile land and quenching the thirst of indigenous settlements. Such Rajkulos, which used to have irrigation facilities all year round, have been almost destroyed in recent times.
The municipality has issued a public notice requesting the removal of houses, roads or other structures built by encroaching on Rajkulo and clearing the land of the canal. If the notice is disobeyed, the municipality has warned that it will use a dozer to demolish the structure and recover the cost from the concerned party.
The municipality gave a 35-day ultimatum on April 24 to revive the Rajkulo, which has been encroached on for years, and remove the encroachment. Mayor Sanjay Kumar Kafle said that efforts have been made to restore the historical Rajkulo to its original condition. ‘The work of destroying the Rajkulo, which stretches for about 5 kilometers south from the Chandi River, has been done,’ he said, ‘We have already started the work of finding the existence of the historical Rajkulo.’ Even now, the canal is clearly visible on the map.’ He said that even though the map is still alive, houses and roads have been built on the canal.
The Rajkulo, where water flows from the head of Chure, has been the main source of irrigation for decades. This canal was the basis for farming for farmers in Chandranigahpur and the surrounding areas. Locals allege that this public property has been overlooked as land prices have skyrocketed with urbanization. According to local elders, the royal culvert was not only important for irrigation but also for controlling flooding during the monsoon. Now, in many places, concrete houses have been built on the culverts, while in some places, the signs of the culverts have been erased by expanding roads.
According to Mayor Kafle, it is necessary to revive the royal culverts to organize the drainage and irrigation system within the city. Mayor Kafle said that a campaign has been launched to bring back public property that has been encroached on for decades based on old records and maps. He also said that removing those who have built houses and roads by destroying the culverts would be a political and administrative challenge for the municipality. ‘In some places, government roads have been built on the culverts, and a huge investment and planning are required to repair such structures,’ he said.
Locals have welcomed this step by the municipality. Civic leader Yogendra Yadav said that the practice of fulfilling personal interests by encroaching on public property is erasing history. He said that if Rajkulo can be revived, it will greatly help the agriculture and environmental balance here. In the first phase, the municipality has alerted through information. In the second phase, a team including Amin is preparing to demarcate the boundary.
Till a decade ago, the water flowing from the head of the Chandi River here reached the farmers' fields through culverts and panis at various places. Farmers used to take the help of culverts to water their crops planted according to the season. Farmers from every house used to clean the culverts and panis every year. Recently, Rajkulo has been demolished in the name of plotting.
The municipality office claims that a road has been built by demolishing more than 100 public culverts and panis in the southern part of Chandrapur through Tekan and Chidiyadaha. The municipality says that although the culvert and paini are mentioned in the survey office map, they are now being sold as houses and roads after being destroyed. This has been causing problems in the farmers' fields.
Locals had complained to the municipality in the past too, saying that the royal culvert was destroyed. About a year and a half ago, they protested that the plotters had destroyed the old paini in the Chandrapur Hospital area to build a road, but the locals complain that no one took any initiative to stop it. Land entrepreneur Santosh Kumar Chaudhary has destroyed and plotted a 14-foot paini that was two decades ago on the north side of his private land in Jhanjhanetol in Chandrapur-6. However, businessman Chaudhary claims that he did not destroy the culvert and plot it. Chandrapur-5 Nilhari Koirala said that half of the paini and culverts in this area have been encroached upon.
After the work of clearing the place/place, farmers have been using private pump sets to collect water in their fields. Except for the canal and branches of the Bagmati irrigation, the canals have been completely cleared. Prahlad Thapa, a farmer from Chandrapur-6, said that the clearing of canals has created a big problem. ‘The water from the Chure used to reach the farmers’ fields directly through the canals,’ he said, ‘Now even though the canals are on the map, they have been cleared in the past.’ Some time ago, the municipality had launched a campaign to clear the buried canals in various places. Ward Chairman of Chandrapur-6, Sahadev KC, claimed that the work of clearing the destroyed and buried canals had been done in the past.
