SANGUEM: An amount of Rs 32 crore appears to have gone down the drain as the lift irrigation facility inaugurated at Molcornem on World Water Day last year in March has failed to provide water to farmers.
Farmer Josinho D’Costa said following the inauguration of the lift irrigation facility last year, he had planted 1,000 areca nut saplings expecting to receive water to irrigate them. However, he bitterly complained that the pump operators do not supply water due to which his plantation is not likely to survive the scorching summer.
“There is no time schedule fixed when water will be provided nor are the pump operators found at the pump station,” he complained and demanded that bio-metric machines be set up at the pump house to monitor the staff attendance besides maintaining the movement register in case the staff go out for official work.
This facility was constructed at the cost of Rs 32 crore of which Rs 28 crore was provided as a soft loan by NABARD. The entire project includes five pumping units each of 700 HP and a 33 KV sub-station with a 2,500 KVA transformer running on 33/11 KV supply.
The project has a micro distribution network to supply water to the fields by using gravity and semi-circular RCC pipes with canal gates and a distribution chamber.
However the system has miserably failed to meet the water needs of farmers, lamented D’Costa whose farm is just around 200 metres away from the pump house.
