The irrigable land under the Ganges-Kobadak Irrigation Project, aimed at achieving self-sufficiency through increased production, has decreased from 142,000 hectares to 95,620 hectares due to pump failures, canal dike destruction, and silt accumulation.
The project provided irrigation support to 51,550 hectares of land in the fiscal year 2020-21, only 36% of its initial capacity, and the land under irrigation was reduced to about 40,000 hectares in the following two years.
The Ministry of Water Resources has sent a project proposal titled "Rehabilitation of Ganga-Kapotaksh Irrigation Project" to the Planning Commission to revive the once-largest irrigation system in the country, with an estimated cost of Tk2500 crore.
The Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Institutions Division of the Planning Commission has arranged a meeting of the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) to analyse the proposal and has recommended restructuring the proposal with several suggestions.
The revised Development Project Proposal (DPP) following the recommendations of the PEC meeting will be presented to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) for final approval, said officials of the Planning Commission.
The Bangladesh Water Development Board will implement the project, subject to the approval of the Ecnec, they added.
The proposal of the Ministry of Water Resources revealed that the GK Irrigation Project was undertaken in 1954 to increase agricultural production by bringing 13 upazilas of four districts of Khulna Division—Kushtia, Chuadanga, Magura, and Jhenaidah—under irrigation.
The first phase of the GK project was completed in 1969-70, and it was expanded later under the second phase.
According to the proposal, two of the three main pumps under the project are currently out of service. Only one pump has been kept operational through various repairs and maintenance.
Apart from that, various limitations have developed in this irrigation project over time.
Officials of the Water Development Board said that the main pumps under the GK project become ineffective during the dry season when the water in the main canals goes below 4 meters from sea level.
Subsidiary pumps are used when the main pump does not work, but the subsidiary pumps were damaged in 2004 and became unrepairable, which stopped irrigation.
“Out of the 49 branch canals of the irrigation project, 20 dykes are completely damaged and irrigation cannot be done through them. The remaining 29 dykes are partially damaged,” the Water Resources Ministry said to justify the new project. The proposal added that 208 out of 444 sub-branch canals have been filled with silt.
The main works of the proposed project include the construction of a GK Subsidiary Pump House in Bheramara Upazila of Kushtia along with the re-excavation of the main connecting canal from the source of the pump house.
The construction of a connecting road from the main road of Bheramara Upazila to the subsidiary pump house will also be done under the project.
Reconstruction of the main canals of the GK Irrigation Project and the excavation of secondary and tertiary irrigation canals and drainage canals will also be carried out.
The project proposal expressed optimism that the total irrigable area under the GK project could be brought back to its previous extent if all the canals were re-excavated.
Abdul Baki, Member (Secretary), Agriculture, Water Resources, and Rural Institutions Division of the Planning Commission, presided over the recently held PEC meeting for the project.
When asked, he said that the GK irrigation project was very important for the region, but the system is not as effective as it used to be due to various reasons like the filling up of canals and the failure of pumps.
He said that the GK irrigation project would be useful for everyone after the renovation of pumps and the digging of canals.
