Farmers across Kashmir are confronting a scarcity of irrigation water in their fields as the Jhelum and its tributaries, water level have dropped low thereby rendering the majority of lift irrigation schemes inoperable.
Irrigation, the process of artificial supply of water to crops, is an age-old practice in the state. The farmers are quite conscious of the significance of irrigation as a means to achieve an effective break-through in the development of agriculture. Access to water is a significant factor for the survival of farmers and villagers as they are dependent on it.
Irrigation plays an important role in the Agriculture and Horticultural sector of J&K economy. When the temperature begins to rise in May and onwards, the rainfall decreases and except some showers of rain in July-August, most of the growing season remains dry. Since ages, the farm economy has been dependent on a single crop and the cultivator cannot take chances with it. The farmer always requires sufficient water supply for his fields, therefore, he depends mostly upon kuhls and canals for irrigation.
The Zamindari canals, locally called as Kuhls are constructed and maintained by the farmers. The total number of such canals is 2,827 which irrigate nearly 60 per cent of the total irrigated area of Kashmir Division.
Farmers across Kashmir are confronting a scarcity of irrigation water in their fields as the Jhelum and its tributaries, water level have dropped to a 65-year low, rendering the majority of lift irrigation schemes inoperable.
According to official estimates, the Sangam gauge reading has reached 0.74 feet, which is lower than the lowest ever measurement of 0.75 feet, which was recorded in November of 2017. According to the department’s 55-year-old record book, this is the first time they have seen this level.
“At this time, the water used to flow above 3-feet, but the level is several notches below the average this time, which is a worrying sign because it will negatively impact the irrigation facilities,” an official said.
According to the department’s data, 72 of the Valley’s 394 vertical irrigation projects, or 20% of the irrigation systems, are no longer active. The districts of Pulwama, Budgam and Kupwara have been hit the hard. “If the situation persists, we might issue an advisory to farmers to not go for paddy crop this time in these areas,” a senior official told Excelsior.
However, to make matters worse, no drought pumps are available with the department to mitigate the crisis. “The department is not prepared for the crisis because no-drought pumps are available. They cannot be made available at this time because they must be procured with a good design, which takes three months on an average. The department does not have a backup pump,” he explained.
He said that the department can do nothing to avert the situation right now and that only excellent rainfall can save the crops. “This is a disaster. We can only hope for precipitation, and even that will only provide temporary relief as the water level should be above 3 feet,” an official said.
Farmers are highly concerned about the impact of the hard weather on their crops because they are unable to water their fields. The situation has deteriorated to the point where rice fields have developed cracks due to a shortage of irrigation water, and with the absence of rainfall situation is worsening each passing day.
The water level at the Marwal Irrigation Scheme in Jhelum, which supplies water to several areas in the South and Central Kashmir, is several feet below the allowed level. The irrigation project has become non-functional, resulting in the drying up of around 400 hectares of paddy land in several areas.
“The pump has been running for almost 70 years, and we have had irrigation issues before, but they typically went away with rain, but this time there appears to be no end in sight. We demand that a drought pump be installed,” Ghulam Mohammad Naikoo, a farmer, said. He added that the department’s refusal to stop excessive sand mining near the pump station has exacerbated river bed erosion.
Echoing him, an official said uncontrolled sand mining on the other side of the pump station has raised the depth of the river bed, which is now more than 30 feet at several locations. “We have no way of knowing how deep it is. More suction pipes are being used to the pump the water which has resulted in its overloading and frequent breakdowns,” he added.
Dr Irfan Rashid, an Earth Science Professor at Kashmir University, said that the instrumental records in Jammu and Kashmir indicate that temperatures in March and April in this region were exceeded by something like 9-12 Degrees Centigrade, which caused a massive melt of the snow, as well as the glacial reserves. “This problem was compounded because, in the Kashmir region, we received a very small amount of snowfall as compared to last year,” he said.
He said that the region also received low snowfall during Chilliai Kalan, the 40-day harshest period of winter, this year, “The snow accumulation during this time or snow on the landscapes becomes very important to sustain irrigation, hydropower and tourism sectors or the indirect sectors of the economy which are dependent on it,” he said.
The water level has also dropped in most of the streams including as Rambi Ara, Romshi, Laar and Vushow. They are nearly dry, potentially affecting vegetation and agriculture.
The affected people said the paddy saplings planted on hundreds of kanals of land are drying up due to defunct lift irrigation schemes and pumps. This is affecting thousands of families.
The residents of Begpora, Ghat, Tokuna, Gulzarpora, Padgampora and Dogripora, and Chersu are unable to irrigate their paddy fields due to unavailability of water.
According to residents of Begpira, they had planted paddy saplings in their fields but after a week, lift irrigation plant stopped working as level of water in river decreased. They alleged that the concerned department is not serious to resolve the problem.
“The situation is leading towards drought and we might face starvation,” locals said. They said that the situation is affecting the residents badly as their only source of income and livelihood is the agriculture lands.
“We are unable to grow other crops in our fields as we are completely dependent on agriculture especially rice. The authorities must give first importance to this issue to save our livelihood and to save us from starvation” a resident said. According to residents, the irrigation canals mostly remain dry during the peak season.
“We faced the same situation last year but the Irrigation department didnot come to our rescue,” , a resident said.
These fields must be full of water at this time of the year, but are drying.
Executive Engineer of the Department of Irrigation said that the department cannot do anything at this stage.
“The water level of main source river Jhelum has decreased . We can do something only when the water level rises. We are helpless as the situation is beyond our control”, the Executive Engineer said.
The villages which are hit include Nagam, Soaf, Kandiwara, Khalhar, Hiller, Bhai, Arhama, Mohripora, Bodasgam, Deheruna, Badoora, Hardpora, Damhal, Hakura, Khoshipora, Brenti, Lisser-Chawalgam, Bamdoora, Voie, Woterhal, Geebum, Goswanigund, Zaldoor, and Chakpath. All of these villages also depend on this Nallah for drinking water. The authorities must ensure restoration of water supply to the affected villages as soon as possible and any further delay in repairs and restoration of the irrigation will leave the fields barren and a huge loss to the farming community of this vast area.
