With renovation of Mokhli diversion, water reaches tail-end

Central Chronicle News
Bhilai, Sep 27: Mokhli diversion remained neglected for the last 15 years. The diversion was prone to wear and tear, the canal lining was in dilapidated condition due to lack of maintenance, and the diversion, which earlier gave life to the fields of Mokhli, Barbaspur, Kharra and Borid, was able to irrigate only a few hectares of land.
Considering the situation, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel directed the officials to renovate this diversion. The renovation work of this diversion is being conducted at a cost of Rs 4.73 crore. Till now 80 percent work of this diversion has been completed and this season the diversion was able to irrigate larger areas. The reservoir is filled in full capacity. The farmers of the village are very excited. They stated that the Chief Minister was informed about this diversion by public representatives. The villagers stated that they were confident that this work would be done but they had never expected that it would be done at such a fast pace and they would start getting its benefits so soon.
Giving information in this regard, Executive Engineer Suresh Pandey said that on an average, two meters of soil was removed and the lining was repaired. SDO Water Resources SK Dewangan informed that there is sufficient water in the reservoir and due to which, ground water is also recharging faster. For Rabi crop, it is expected that about 30 hectare area will be irrigated through bore wells. He said that 6 km of canal lining was to be done in the plan and out of which 4 km of canal lining has been done. The wear work has been completed. The bridge culvert has also been constructed according to the demand of the farmers. The remaining work of the scheme will be done after irrigation of Kharif crop.
Mokhli diversion work was done during 1974-75. For almost three decades, diversion provided good irrigation. Then its capacity decreased gradually. Now, again 447 hectare area will be irrigated through this diversion and villagers of four villages will get benefits.
Irrigation schemes that have been closed for years are being renovated and through this initiative, larger areas will be irrigated. Along with this, the lift irrigation projects are also being renovated. Through these initiatives, the way has been opened for irrigation of kharif as well as rabi crops.