Demand for revival of Rongai Valley medium irrigation project
SHILLONG: The State Government’s proposal to stop the Rongai Valley medium irrigation project has been opposed by the Save Rongai Valley irrigation project committee in West Garo Hills.
In a recent letter to the State Government, the pressure group said the Centre had accorded sanction for Rongai Valley medium irrigation project for providing irrigation facilities in the Chibinang-Phulbari belt covering 4775 hectares with net irrigable area of 3490 hectares to raise the economic condition of the people who are mostly cultivators, being ethnic tribals and minorities.
The group, opposing the move of the State Government to stop the project, said that recently in a review meeting, the Government had decided to close the project in its present form and utilize the already constructed infrastructures for some other purposes, which was a bolt from the blue ending the long cherished dream of the people of the area.
Abandoning of the project will put a stop to irrigation facilities and moreover, during the devastating floods of 2014, a school building at Bholarbhita along with the school field was washed away leaving only a small portion, which was caused since there was no protection on either side of the Rongai River, the pressure group said.
It was the then Meghalaya Governor A. Rahim who along with the then Chief Minister P.A. Sangma had inaugurated the project way back in 1990, and later construction of building for office and residential purpose, godowns, water supply, electrification, footpath, fencing, compound walls and retaining walls among others were completed.
Moreover, construction of barrage and head regulators had also been completed. The project office has been running with the posting of a project engineer equivalent to the rank of Superintendent Engineer along with numbers of sub-divisional officers, overseers, other office bearers.
Earlier former Union Minster (L) P.R. Kyndiah, during his tenure as DoNER Minister, had proposed sanctioning a bund-cum-road from Nidhanpur to Phulbari protecting both sides of the Rongai River for which a survey was also carried out but no follow up action was witnessed, the pressure group claimed.
