Despite Bastar getting plentiful of water in first spell of Monsoon, reservoirs of Chhattisgarh irrigating the southern part of the state are yet to get their full quotas. However, Water Resources Department officials are optimistic of reaching the capacity in second spell.
Notably, all the seven districts of Bastar division – Sukma, Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Kanker, getting 50 to 100 percent downpour in access but three of the water reservoir – Kosarteda, Mayana and Paralkote are still not filled to their full capacity.
According to information provided by Water Resources Department, Bastar’s biggest irrigation dam Kosarteda has installed capacity of 63.69 million cubic meters but till July 20 intake of the dam stood at 26.60 million cubic metre only.
likewise, Paralkote reservoir which has storage capacity of 36.93 million cubic metre has received just 24 per cent of its full quota whereas the third reservoir of the division Mayana has received 1.368 million cubic metre water against its installed storage capacity of 5.60 million cubic metre.
It is worth mentioning that in Bastar division these three reservoirs are of great help to the farmers who go for multi cropping instead of single crop of paddy which is grown by Chhattisgarh farmers in general. While Paralkote reservoir provides irrigation in 14,575 hectares and Kosarteda irrigates 11,120 hectares, Mayana reservoir’s irrigation capacity is 1,483 hectares.
Unlike other areas of the state where single crop of paddy is grown based on Monsoon rains, farmers coming in the command area of these three reservoirs grow vegetables as main crop besides taking double crop of paddy thanks to irrigation facility provided by these reservoirs.