GK project starts water supply for irrigation
GK (Ganges-Kobadak) project yesterday started supplying irrigation water for Irri-Boro cultivation in Kushtia, Faridpur, Jhenidah, Magura and Chuadanga districts.
The project will cover 1.16 lakh hectares of land in the five south-western districts with a target to produce 3.13 lakh tonnes of paddy in the current season, sources said.
Earlier on several occasions, the project failed to ensure smooth water supply due to fall in the water level of Padma River.
Uninterrupted supply will be maintained if water is available in the Padma and it depends on discharge of water at Farakka in the upstream, project officials said.
The project authorities repaired its main intake channel and dredged its drains at a cost of Tk 5 crore.
Bangladesh was supposed to get 43,996 cusec of water during March 1-10 and 41,251 cusec during March 11-20 at Farakka but got only 28,000 and 27,798 cusec of water respectively, sources said.
The quantity of water sees decline every year due to withdrawal of Ganges water at Farakka point in the upstream, said a high official of Water Development Board (WDB) in Kushtia.
The GK project had totally failed to supply water during 1992-1996 due to low flow in the Padma.
The project became operational again after signing of the water sharing treaty with India in 1996.
The GK project started in 1961 with a target to irrigate 4.88 lakh hectares of land in five south-western districts but it could not cover the targeted area due to unavailability of water.
“We are now hopeful of supplying uninterrupted water round the season,” Kushtia WDB Executive Engineer Nazrul Islam said over cell phone yesterday.
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