North Rajs']jshahi Irrigation Project: A prudent and sustainable irrigation strategies for Bangladesh

The Rajshahi region of northwest Bangladesh is known as the granary of the country. A large volume of irrigation water has been withdrawn from the aquifer underneath this region. As a result a continuous lowering of water table has been taking place, especially in the dry period. This has posed a threat for the overall ecology of the area. To overcome the aftermath of such groundwater over drafting, as an alternative, irrigation from the river water can be considered as savior to halt further deterioration of groundwater reserves of the area. During the year 1987 and 1988 JICA, BWDB and the local experts carried out a thorough investigation for the possibilities of irrigation from the river Ganges and Mahananda. Out come of this investigation, North Rajshahi Irrigation Project (NRIP) feasibility studies showed that it is worthwhile to use the irrigation water from the said rivers. The studied area covers near about 67,000 hectare areas of Rajshahi, Chapai Nwabgang and Naogaon districts. To implement the project it will be needed to build up irrigation cannel network and to emplace fixed and floating types of pumps having discharge capacity of around 30-40 m(3)/sec. (An agro and socio-economic survey have shown that the cropping density will be increased from 125% to up to 250%. As a result, an excess of 2.5 million metric ton rice will be produced annually. This will provide an opportunity for fisheries and poultries farming. Study showed that a mid-type farm (1.7 hectare) will be able to increase its earning in excess of another 500 US dollar per annum. Project will be able to create new job facilities for more than 30,000 people. It is anticipated that the project cost (830 million USD) will be returned by almost five years time. As far as environmental viewpoint this project is very much environmentally friendly.) The NRIP project was duly submitted to the government of Bangladesh as early as 1994. But though appreciating the report and realizing its immediate implementation, due to financial constraints, the government has not been in a position to go ahead with the project. Under these circumstances, Bangladesh really needs foreign donors to implement this project to improve the livelihood of millions.