Even though three decades have passed since the Mahakali Treaty was signed between Nepal and India, there is no sign of water flowing in the main canal of the third phase of the Mahakali Irrigation Project.

According to the treaty, India should send 300 cusecs of water from Tanakpur dam to Nepal in the dry season and 1,000 cusecs in the rainy season. Irrigation infrastructure has been prepared to some extent so that India can use the water released from Tanakpur as per the treaty. Although water has been released from Tanakpur twice for testing the main canal, the Indian side has not cared about releasing it regularly. Meanwhile, the Mahakali Irrigation Project has been demanding water as some branch canals have been prepared up to the area where the main canal has been built in the third phase.

Although the physical progress of the third phase of the national pride project is increasing day by day, the issue of water flowing in the canal is still  uncertain. The Mahakali Irrigation Project, which was started 18 years ago with the goal of irrigating 33,520 hectares of land in Kanchanpur and Kailali, has progressed 27 percent. 9 billion has been invested in it.

According to the project, the construction company has a budget of 1.97 billion. The 19-kilometer main canal construction to Malakheti in Kailali is being built in four phases after the agreement. Rajesh Pokharel, engineer of the third phase of the Mahakali Irrigation Project, said that there have been repeated correspondences through the department and ministry to bring water for irrigation.

'When we coordinate with the Indian NHPC, we inform them that all the structures to release water are ready when the order comes from the higher body,' he said, 'We have also received requests from here. But the initiative in this matter should come from the higher level.'

Former Minister of Sudurpaschim Province and Provincial Assembly member Prakash Rawal stressed that the central government should be serious about completing the Mahakali irrigation work on time and providing irrigation facilities to farmers' fields. 'There is no decision on when water will flow in the main canal of the Mahakali Irrigation,' he said, 'The provincial and local governments should continue to emphasize underground irrigation for irrigation facilities.'

He said that when he was the provincial minister, the Mahakali Irrigation Project had even written to the provincial government to stop the budget for underground irrigation. 'If the project could not be completed on time, other measures had to be taken as an alternative,' he said, 'It was not just a project of pride. The center had to take the initiative to provide irrigation facilities.'

Mahendranagar-based social worker Leeladhwaj Basnet says that due to the haste in making the treaty, water has not been brought to the main canal. 'Even though we invested billions in making the treaty without studying it, water has not flowed to the main canal,' he says, 'The central government should take the initiative in this matter.'

The treaty has defined the responsibilities, rights and duties of the parties regarding the use of water from the Mahakali River. Although the construction of the third phase has been started with the aim of extending irrigation to Malakheti in Kanchanpur and Kailali, the farmers here have been farming with underground irrigation and Akosh water for a long time. 

'Even though the main irrigation canal reaches the courtyard of the house, there is no certainty as to when the water will reach it,' said Bhim Chaudhary, a farmer from Bedkot Municipality. 'Years have passed in the hope of getting irrigation facilities, but there is still no sign of them coming.'