Cashing in on farmers' woes
Teesta canal lessees realise much higher service charges for irrigation
An operator opening the regulator sluice gate of a secondary canal under Teesta Irrigation Project, and influential people set hollow pipes over (middle) and under (circled) the embankments to illegally draw water from a main canal of the project for supplying it to farmers for higher prices. Photo: STAR
While boro farmers in most areas under Teesta Irrigation Project are crying for water due to scanty flow in Teesta River, a section of canal lessees are compelling farmers in the upstream to pay much higher than the official rate as service charge for irrigation. A section of local influential people other than lessees are also doing 'water trade' by illegally taking out water from different canals under the project but the authorities concerned are failing to take any action. "I heard about realisation of additional service charges from farmers by lessees. We could not take any action against them as we are yet to get any written complain. Our men are going door to door to motivate farmers not to give higher service charge,” The Executive Engineer of BWDB'S Nilphamari Division Nazir Ahmed told this correspondent. Besides making the farmers suffer, the illegal 'water trade' is causing the government huge revenue losses. Under Teesta Irrigation Project, a farmer-friendly initiative of the government, farmers get Teesta water flowing through a number of canals for yearly service charge of Tk 144 for irrigation in a bigha (30 decimal) of land (Tk 480 for an acre equal to 100-decimal land). Lessees maintain the canals and realise charges that is to be used for development of the canal system. Many farmers in the project area said that referring to high cost of irrigation with diesel or electricity run shallow or deep pumps, a section of lessees realise double, triple or even more service charges although irrigation under Teesta Irrigation Project needs no diesel or power run pump as water is made to flow from canals to farmers' lands in a natural way. "Some lessees even realise Tk 225--Tk 600 for irrigating a bigha of land but they do not give any receipt against the additional money. The farmers, other than influential ones, have to pay extra money as the lessees threaten to stop irrigation," Abdus Samad, 35, a farmer of Pashchim Balagram village of Jaldhaka upazila, said. Many farmers fear losses due to higher irrigation cost. Only 44,000 hectares (1 hectare = 2.47 acres) of land is targeted for irrigation under Teesta Irrigation Project in 12 upazilas of Nilphamari, Rangpur and Dinajpur districts against overall project target of 1,11,406 hectares due to water shortage in Teesta in the ongoing boro season. As the government fixed service charge for a hectare of land is Tk 1440, the amount of revenue from the target area is supposed to be about Tk 5.22 crore but the lease money to be deposited for this year would be only Tk 30-35 lakh, BWDB sources said. Part of S5-D secondary canal in Sadar upazila having total length of 25.83 km with command area of 593 acres was leased out for only Tk 20 thousand although actual revenue supposed to be earned from it is Tk 3 lakh. Farmers alleged that command area of such a big canal has been shown as unusually small in order to favour the lessee, sources said. Although lessees realise crores of taka as additional service charge, they take lease of the canals for unbelievably low prices allegedly with the connivance of a section of BWDB officials. Lessees of S8-T secondary canal in Jaldhaka upazila Nabab Ali and Rashidul Islam Rubel, however, claimed that they incurred huge losses by leasing the canal. They said they realise Tk 225 for a bigha (30 decimal) of land to 'make up the loss' as they had to spend a lot of money for making a number of earthen drains to make canal water reach farmers' lands, engage men for frequent repair of drains and supervising the irrigation system in addition to depositing lease money to BWDB. They also alleged that a good number of influential farmers do not pay service charge. During visit to different areas of Teesta Irrigation project last week (30 March), this correspondent found that water from different canals was being taken out using curved hollow plastic pipes placed on the surface or through underground of the canal embankments. A few influential people, who are doing illegal 'water trade' by making vast networks of earthen drains to supply illegally taken water to farmer's lands for high charges, on condition of anonymity said they regularly give money to a section of BWDB men to keep the business undisturbed. However, Dalia Division Executive Engineer Dhirendra Nath Roy told this correspondent that no BWDB official takes money from people who take unauthorised water from canals. The Sub Divisional Engineer of Kishoreganj under BWDB'S Rangpur Division Krishna Kamal Sarkar said that they had seized many unauthorised pipes from canal embankments and filed cases against their owners. Meanwhile, some 'genuine farmers' who also take out water from canals using hollow pipes, said they have to do it as they have no opportunity to get irrigation water due to lack of adequate outlets at canal embankments although the Teesta project canals are beside their lands. "The authority concerned directed us to deposit service charge with the account of a neighbouring lessee from whom we did not take water. In previous years, we deposited money with a lessee's account but later found that the lessee used that money to pay his undue lease money without showing that it was additional revenue. We want a realistic water management policy to deposit due money to proper authorities so that none can misappropriate it," Abdul Gaffar of Balagram village of Jaldhaka upazila, also president of a farmers' society, said. The executive engineer of Dalia Division of BWDB said that case will be filed if service charge is not paid.
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