Dams in Akola district's Barshitakli and Patur to be run from offices in Washim, worrying farmers

Two dams have been proposed in Barshitakli and Patur tehsils of Akola district under the ambitious Wainganga-Nalganga river-linking project. Land measurement for the dams has begun. Surprisingly, however, the offices for both dams have been placed in Washim district, even though Barshitakli and Patur both lie in Akola district.

For farmers in these two tehsils, the district headquarters, Akola, is quite close. Even so, the irrigation department has attached the dam offices for both tehsils to the Karanja (Lad) division in Washim district. This means that, leaving aside the city nearest to them, the farmers will have to deal with a division in another district.

As a result, the farmers will have to spend time, money and effort on problems related to land acquisition and other work. The upshot is that farmers in both tehsils now face a string of difficulties.

Akola district will get 282.34 million cubic metres of water from the river-linking project. Dams are needed to hold this water. At present, there is no site in the district for a project as large as the Katepurna project. Projects with less storage than Katepurna can be built, and for this reason four dams have been proposed in the district.

These include the dams at Sisa Udegaon, Lower Katepurna, Yelwan and Chikhalgaon. These dams will be able to hold 207 million cubic metres of water. The rest of the water will be held by increasing the storage capacity of three minor projects.

The project will resolve major questions of drinking water and irrigation. The Wainganga-Nalganga river-linking project will prove a boon for districts such as Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Akola, Washim and Buldhana. It will bring 3.71 lakh hectares under irrigation.

Solar power will also be generated from the canal of this river-linking project. In this connection, the survey of the 426-km canal from Wainganga to Nalganga has been completed. Washim district and the Painganga project have also been included in the project.