Dispute over ‘encroached’ watercourse puts 40-acre land’s irrigation at risk in Alipur

A dispute has arisen over a watercourse that serves an 40-acre plot of land in Alipur, threatening the irrigation of that agricultural land. According to the irrigation department, the watercourse, which once flowed at a width of 11 feet, has been narrowed to between one and two feet due to a house being built over its course. Despite this, officials with the irrigation department have ordered that the channel be cleaned rather than restored to its former width.

The irrigated land is located on Outlet No. 28150/R of Ghalwan Distributary, which feeds into the Sher Sultan Canal Sub-Division. The farmers who rely on this watercourse, Muhammad Afzal, Abdul Majeed, Muhammad Akram, Ghulam Hussain and Manzoor Ahmad, have asked for the channel to be restored to its recorded width of 11 feet. The farmers claim that the irrigation channel is a pre-Partition irrigation channel and that without it, they will have difficulty irrigating their crops.

Moreover, they question why the department is not removing the encroachment, as they are required to pay water tax to the government. The irrigation department conducted an inquiry into the farmers' complaint, which found that there were permanent residential structures on both sides of the watercourse and that it had been non-functional for a considerable period of time.

The Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO-Canal) issued a decision on September 29th, ordering the farmers to clean and maintain the existing alignment and to restore irrigation supply through it. The department rejected the demand for removal of the construction and restoration of the watercourse to its original width, stating that widening the channel would involve the disturbance or removal of permanent residential structures.

The farmers argue that the SDO's decision acknowledges the encroachment but does not order its removal to fully restore the watercourse.