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The government is set to launch a fresh project to aid farmers in the Barind Tract (Rajshahi-Rangpur division) with irrigation facilities during the dry season as rivers in the region continue to run dry and the groundwater level plummets each year.
In an effort to create, restore, and conserve surface water reservoirs, the Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) has initiated a project titled “Expansion of irrigation through conservation of canal water in the Barind region”.
Under this project, the BMDA will leverage a total of Tk 249 crore to provide seamless irrigation to farmers across 3,490 hectares of croplands during the dry seasons. The said project is expected to be implemented by 2026.
According to official sources, the region’s groundwater level is dropping by two to three feet per year on average, causing a severe water shortage among local farmers, particularly those who grow rice. The Barind region encompasses a total of 124 upazilas in the Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions.
Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and Naogaon districts in northwestern Bangladesh have a relatively dry climate, high temperatures, erratic rainfall and scarce surface water.
The areas of Nachol and Gomostapur in Chapainawabganj; Tanore and Godagari in Rajshahi; and Porsha, Sapahar, and Niamatpur upazilas in Naogaon are over 47m higher than sea level.
In these high and arid areas, paddy farming poses quite a challenge when farmers only rely on groundwater during the dry season.
T-Aman, Aman, Aush and small scale Rabi crops are generally cultivated in this area. In many cases, due to the late onset of the monsoon season, the yield of Aman paddy is disrupted.
Moreover, additional irrigation is required in case of drought during the flowering period of paddy. But lack of timely irrigation disrupts crop production.
Moreover, the reported overexploiting of groundwater is said to have a toll on the availability of drinking water as groundwater provides for 75% of the water needed for rice irrigation in Bangladesh, the world’s fourth-largest rice-producing country.
In order to reduce the pressure on groundwater in agriculture, the BMDA has been digging canals for decades; however, many of them have become shallow and narrow due to siltation, which are in dire need of re-excavation.
Due to the lack of water in the canals, farmers are now using deep tube wells for irrigation purposes. But as the groundwater level depletes and rainfalls become scanty, water for irrigation is not available as per demand.
Since 1985, BMDA has started laying deep tube wells in the Barind region. There are now 15,100 deep tube wells in the entire Barind area. Since 2012, the government has decided not to draw any more groundwater for agriculture. Since then, BMDA has not installed new tube wells. Therefore, BMDA has undertaken a water conservation project in the canal to create a surface water reservoir.
To this end, the BMDA will identify and re-excavate 38.25 km of canals and make arrangements for water conservation.
The canals, ponds and beels have become shallow and narrow due to siltation, if re-excavated, the surrounding cultivable lands will come under irrigation.
Speaking on the matter, BMDA Executive Director Abdur Rashid said that if the project was implemented, local farmers would be able to elevate their lands from one crop cycle to three crops cycles a year.
In this way the farmers will be able to contribute to the national production as well as to improve their own socio-economic condition, he added.
