Even though water from the Gandak Canal has reached Block No. 13 in Rautahat during the rice planting season, farmers beyond that point are unlikely to receive irrigation facilities this year as well.
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During the main season for paddy planting, water from the Gandak canal has reached up to Block No. 13 in Rautahat. However, in the areas beyond that, water will not be able to reach again this year.
According to Engineer Mukesh Thakur, Information Officer at the Narayani Irrigation Management Office in Birgunj, water from the canal has currently reached the Bankul area (Block No. 13) of Rautahat. He said that due to the inadequate condition of the canal’s infrastructure beyond that, farmers in those areas are unlikely to receive irrigation facilities.
According to him, the Indian side has been providing 850 cusecs of water from Asar 10 (mid-June) this year as per the agreement. As this amount of water continues to flow in the canal, paddy planting has already been completed in most irrigated areas of Parsa, Bara, and Rautahat, he said.
According to the Gandak Agreement between Nepal and India, for paddy crops, 850 cusecs of water is to be made available every year for three months from Asar 15 to Asoj 15 (late June to mid-October), and for wheat crops, from Poush 10 (late December) as required. The Indian side releases water from the Gandak Barrage located at Bhainsalotan on the Nepal–India border in Nawalparasi.
The Gandak canal travels about 92 kilometers on the Indian side before entering Nepal at Janakitol in Jagarnathpur Rural Municipality of Parsa. On the Nepal side, its length is 81 kilometers, and it is divided into 15 blocks across Parsa, Bara, and Rautahat.
The Gandak Barrage, constructed and operated by India, was handed over to the Government of Nepal in two phases in 1975 and 1976. Although the goal is to provide irrigation facilities to about 37,400 hectares of agricultural land in Parsa, Bara, and Rautahat through the Gandak canal, the targeted area has not been fully irrigated due to the recurring problem of water not regularly reaching the final areas of Rautahat.
