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Photo: Gorkhapatra daily

Kathmandu, August 24: Due to the dam constructed by India in the border area, around 400 hectares of paddy cultivation in the Kapilvastu district in Lumbini Province has been inundated. Due to the non-opening of gates of Bajaha Dam, Mahlisagar Dam and Siswa Dam constructed by India along the border area, the paddy fields on the Nepalese side have been inundated, reports the government-owned newspaper, Gorkhapatra daily.

Due to the rain, the paddy fields planted on 400 hectares of more than 350 farmers from a dozen villages of Mayadevi and Yashodhara Rural Municipality have been inundated.

Farmers say the Indian side opens the dam gates in winter and closes them during the rainy season. Farmers say that because the 28 gates in the dam are not opened, the farm is inundated. According to Jayabuddha Yadav of Mayadevi Rural Municipality-4, Tulsidihwa, when the dam gate was not opened after the rains, the rice crop planted in 300 bighas was submerged in water. He said, “We planted paddy last June, harvested the paddy and planted it again in July.”  Again the paddy fields are flooded.

He said that the fields are submerged, as the water is not drained, the Nepali farmers will have to bear a huge loss. When the gate of the Bajaha Lake dam in Bajaha Bazar, located in the Indian territory of the border area, was closed, the border post No. 542/47 in that area was also submerged in water.

Half of the lake under Chilhia Police Station of India is towards Nepal and half towards India. India has done irrigation by collecting water in Bajaha Lake. The lake has been dammed with 28 iron gates. In Bajaha region, India has built a dam around 10 km area. The dam is also used as a road. As 28 gates were closed, the frozen water could not be drained.

People’s News Monitoring Service.