Excavation of eight and a half kilometer long Burulia canal at Nikli in Kishoreganj at a cost of Taka 2 crore 61 lakh is nearing completion. As a result, 5,000 hectares of arable land in the vast waterbody has been irrigated. Farmers have already started cultivating paddy in the lands under excavation. Due to the canal, they will be able to bring fertilizer to the land by boat with irrigation and cut the paddy and take it home before the water reaches the haor, they said. This will reduce the extra cost and labor of paddy production in the current season. So the farmers are happy to see such promising agro scenario in the region.
Barulia canal flows through the middle of Joanshahi haor in Nikli upazila of Kishoreganj district. The origin of this canal is from Ghorautra, a fast flowing river of Haor. Almost all the canals including the place of origin were filled with silt and the water flow of Barulia canal was stopped. At the end of the monsoon season, when the haor water recedes, the farmers of this region cultivate Boro paddy. From the beginning to the end of Boro cultivation in this haor, which has been on the horizon for many years, the farmers have been suffering due to lack of communication system for transportation of fertilizers, seeds and paddy. Besides, thousands of hectares of land fall due to lack of irrigation. However, this year, the Department of Local Government Engineering has undertaken the excavation of the eight and a half kilometer long Burulia canal of this haor with the funding of Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA). Most of the excavations have already been completed. Seeing the recent flow of water in the canal which has been filling up for a long time, the farmers in the area are excited about the promising future of the agro scenario in the region.
Excavation of Barulia canal started in December last year through 29 project committees. This work will end in May this year.
Boro farmer Borhan Uddin of Joanshahi Haor said, ‘The water level in this haor area is very low. So we can't irrigate the land even by putting deep tube wells. Due to this situation, our land is falling year after year. This time the excavation of the canal has started before the Boro paddy cultivation. So we have planted paddy by cultivating the land with confidence. All the farmers like us have planted paddy hoping that water from the canal will change the irrigation process in the region.'
He added, "Water has already started flowing in the canal. Seeing this scene, the confidence among farmers increased even more. It will be convenient to bring fertilizer by boat through canal with irrigation in the land. We will be able to take the paddy home by boat before the water reaches the haor after cutting the paddy. '
Kishoreganj District Local Government Engineering Department Executive Engineer Md. Amirul Islam said, "The excavation of the canal is already 90 percent complete. Hopefully the entire excavation will be completed before the scheduled time. The farmers of this region will get the benefits if the water flow starts in full swing. '
Source: https://bangladeshpost.net/posts/agriculture-scenario-changing-in-nikli-82608
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