Richengang Farmers Look Forwards to an Irrigated New Year

Channel: Although it is that time of year to drain water from paddy fields, Rinchengang farmers welcomed the irrigation, whose restoration and renovation was completed this month.

Farmers recall how difficult it had been during the transplantation months in June and July. “We had to keep guard throughout the night, as the water wasn’t sufficient and farmers stole from each other,” said a farmer.
They will not have to do this from next changla (transplantation season).  Renovating the 14-km long irrigation channel, the biggest in the gewog and initially constructed in the 1990s, cost Nu 2.3M.  The agriculture ministry funded the project.

Gewog officials said this was a major renovation and should ensure sufficient water.  The gewog administration officer of Thedtsho gewog said the renovation started in May and was supposed to complete within six months, but the contractor completed it in about three months.

Rinchengang tshogpa Sangay Penjore said the irrigation channel would benefits about 81 households of Rinchangang.  The source of the irrigation channel is from Nahi Rongchu. “Earlier, despite having an irrigation channel, villagers hardly got enough water, and we didn’t have an alternate source,” he said.

Sangay Penjore said the village did received financial support several times since it was initially built in 1990s; however, it was only for minor repair.  While the government provided them with some financial support to buy cement, villagers contributed labour and carried out the maintenance work, he said.  Most of the men are reputed masons.

“In 1994, we had to restore the broken parts of the irrigation channel using wooden planks,” Sangay Penjore said.

It would benefit all the villagers, especially those doing double transplantation or growing rice twice a year.

Published in Kuensel dated 24.09.2014
By Dawa Gyelmo, Wangdue