Drought looms: Over 10,000 Ha of cropland lie uncultivated in Palasbari’s Rani Block
Residents alleged that while crores of rupees are spent on repairing irrigation canals every year, it has been in vain

Azara, July 22: Several thousand hectares of cropland in Rani have been lying barren due to deficit rainfall and failure of irrigation schemes to supply water.
This has led to the emergence of a drought-like situation in the entire Rani area, which is only about 25 km west of Guwahati city.
It is pertinent to mention here that more than 10,000 hectares of cropland in the areas of Patgaon, Jobe, Andherijuli, Rani, Kaharpara, Hokkhabori, Dharmpur, Mekurikuchi, Nalapara, Challi, etc., in the greater Rani area under Rani Development Block of the newly formed Palasbari LAC in Kamrup district are still lying barren without cultivation due to a shortage of water supply. The saplings are also drying up gradually.
Surprisingly, Kalmoni and Kopilee, the two irrigation schemes located in Rani area, have allegedly failed to supply water to the targeted croplands. The poor farmers of Rani informed that the two irrigation schemes have failed to serve their purpose.
They also alleged that crores of rupees were being spent on repairing the irrigation canals every year. However, no fruitful result has been achieved. Some canals are lying defunct due to a lack of proper maintenance and repairs, the helpless farmers said. It has also been learnt that the two irrigation schemes are running without section officers (SO) till date. Following the transfer of the two SOs nearly a month ago, no one has joined yet, sources said.
The poor farmers have urged the government to initiate steps to make the two irrigation schemes functional at the earliest.
- With inputs from news agencies