Breach in Samrala distributory,20 acres farmland flooded

Officials said de-silting of the canal could not be done in time due to lack of funds.

The breach was,however,plugged soon. This distributory supplies water to 35 villages for farming purpose and the supply will be affected for a few days till the repair work is on. Authorities said farmers would be able to manage without the supply water because rains had started. Water in Samrala major and Samrala distributory comes from the Bhakra main line. Samrala major has a capacity of 250 cusecs.

G S Walia,Superintending Engineer,Bhakra main line,said the breach could have been avoided had the canal been de-silted. He,however,added: “The water is full of minerals and hence it has not done any damage to the crops. Rather,it will make the land more fertile. Moreover,the water level was controlled well in time and now there is only 50 cusecs of water in the canal. We will not release water for a few days as repair work will be on to avoid further damages.”

The outlet points at the tail end of this canal near Khanna were also found blocked due to lack of maintenance. But Walia said: “Farmers close these outlets to divert the flow of water towards their fields. This could be another reason for the increased water pressure in the canal,resulting in its breach.”

Amarjit Singh Dullet,Chief Engineer (Canals),said: “I received a call from the sub-divisional magistrate of Samrala about the rise in water level,which was immediately reduced and the situation is now under control.”

Samrala SDM G S Mahal confirmed that the breach was plugged well in time,though it caused great inconvenience to the farmers.

For de-silting of all canals in the state,the department had sought around Rs 33 crore,but only Rs 13 crore was released and that too under the MGNREGS funds.

Sources said while partial cleaning of the canals in Bhatinda,Muktsar,Mansa and Sangrur was done,the rest were not touched. For the Samrala major,officials said,Rs 15 lakh was required for the de-silting job,but it was not sanctioned.