Canal breach washes away crops

Huge crop losses were reported following a breach in a distribution canal of the Adike Bommanahalli lift irrigation project near Ramenahalli village in the taluk on Monday morning.

Officials reached the spot only in the afternoon, saying they had no information. Farmers said that the canal waters washed away jowar crops. The fertile soil in the fields is gone and it is now replaced by sand and stones, thus making the farms barren.

Poor quality

They said that the poor quality of construction of the canal had resulted in the damage to it. It is just three years since the canal was constructed and water has flowed in it just twice. Yet, there have been damages at two or three places.

They warned that the nearby tank might be damaged, due to the water gushing out of the breached canal. The damage to crops will be much higher if the tank breaches.

It is alleged that there have been a number of instances of canal breach in the command area of the Hemavathi reservoir. This is because there is corruption in the utilisation of funds released by the government for canal repair works.

The farmers want steps to curb corruption, besides providing compensation to them for crop loss.