Canal breach: Crops damaged on hundreds of acres

Farmers had plugged the breach on a self-help basis but irrigation department had yet to repair damage to the canal

FAISALABAD:

Hundreds of acres of cropped land was inundated following a 20-foot breach in Gogera Branch Canal near Kanian Bangla on Monday.

Muhammad Sarwar, a resident of Chak 734-GB, told the media that the villagers had recently informed the irrigation officials about the weakness of the bank.

He said farmers had plugged the breach on a self-help basis but the irrigation department had yet to repair damage to the canal.

Malik Younus, a farmer, said the water had entered the houses in Chak 734-GB and 571-GB and crops on hundreds of acres had been damaged.

Irrigation XEN Muhammad Jameel Rathore told The Express Tribune that the breach had been caused by the cattle being taken into the canal.

“We have stopped them many times,” he said.

Rathore said irrigation officials had plugged the breach immediately after they were informed about it.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2013.