Water shortage in Chashma Right Bank Canal inflicts losses

The shortage of water in the Chashma Right Bank Canal (CRBC) has been causing millions of rupees losses to the local farmers in K-P’s Dera Ismail Khan district.

The designed capacity of the canal is 4,700 cusecs but currently it has depleted down to 3,100 cusecs thus inflicting huge losses on the local growers as DI Khan is the largest agriculture district in K-P. Talking to The Express Tribune local farmers said that for the past two decades the canal has not been cleared of silt for unknown reasons and that is why its capacity has decreased considerably with the passage of time.

“The shortage of water has been a permanent feature for the past couple of years without inviting any attention from the quarters concerned. This has been resulting in millions of rupee losses to us as Dera is the largest agriculture district in the province,” said a local farmer while talking to The Express Tribune, adding that due to some unknown reasons the desilting of the canal has not been done and the side effects are in plain sight. He blamed that recently the Chief Minister Punjab ordered the General Manager Hydro Power Chasma Barrage to release more water into the canal as he himself is a farmer and the canal irrigates his lands too in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab.

“He ordered that since the designed capacity of the canal is 4700 cusecs so the canal should be filled to its capacity which is really dangerous,” he said, adding that the 2010’s floods washed away most of the embankments of the CRBC and these had not been reconstructed. When contacted XEN Irrigation Suliman Daud told The Express Tribune that they were constantly trying to get 4700 cusecs of water for the province but even then, 3100 cusecs water was the normal discharge for the CRBC which was less than the K-P’s share. “Yes the complaints of the farmers are right.

The CRBC is providing less water with the passage of time for a variety of reasons and we are trying to address them but to no avail.” Farmers criticised the K-P government for its failure to construct embankments for the CRBC and demanded its desilting immediately. “If it is desilted and the embankments are reconstructed then the province will be able to get 4,700 cusecs of water,” they said, adding that without the proper embankments and cleaning of the canal the release of 4,700 cusecs of water in the canal will expose local population to extreme danger in tehsil Paharpur.