BY TC News Desk
Agartala, 17th March 2026 : A delegation from the Nalchar local committee of the All India Kisan Sabha recently inspected the Kalibari field on the southern bank of the river at Purba Nalchar village. The team found nearly 150 kanis of cultivable land lying fallow due to lack of irrigation facilities.
During the Left Front government, around Rs 5 lakh from the then MLA’s development fund was used to construct a five-line irrigation system in the area. Traditionally, water was supplied to the field each year during the dry season through a lift irrigation machine installed on the northern bank of the river. Following this practice, farmers had transplanted paddy saplings this year as well.
However, farmers allege that negligence and mismanagement by the local panchayat resulted in no water supply this season. As a consequence, most of the transplanted paddy has withered, leaving cultivators in severe distress. The situation has sparked widespread anger among the farming community.
In addition, a three-kilometre-long drainage channel built during the Left Front era from the Purba Nalchar sluice gate once provided irrigation to nearly 80 percent of farmland in Purba and Paschim Nalchar. A portion of this drain has now collapsed, raising fears that large tracts of farmland in both areas will be deprived of irrigation.
The All India Kisan Sabha has demanded immediate restoration of irrigation facilities and urgent repair of the damaged drain to prevent further losses.
The inspection team included former MLA and member of the Sipahijala district committee Tapan Das, Nalchar regional committee secretary Narayan Nag, party regional secretary Pranab Debnath, and Kisan Sabha regional committee member Ratan Das, among others.
