Soon after receiving the overwhelming mandate from the people of Bijbehara – an extraordinary assembly segment that has produced two Chief Ministers and India’s only Muslim Home Minister – I realigned my priorities in keeping with the unique socio-economic fabric of the region. Nearly 90% of this constituency comprises rural settlements whose livelihoods hinge upon agriculture and horticulture.

In this landscape, irrigation is not just infrastructure – it is lifeblood. Recognizing its centrality, I convened a high-level meeting of officials from the Irrigation, Revenue, Rural Development, and allied departments to assess the condition and challenges of the extensive canal network that sustains our fields.

The Canal System and Command Area

Bijbehara is nourished by three principal canals-Dadi, Nandi, and Awantipora-in addition to 11 medium and over two dozen minor canals. Collectively, these serve nearly 15,000 hectares (3,00,000 kanals) of land, enabling both paddy cultivation and horticulture.

The Dadi Canal, built during the Dogra era, was originally designed to carry 9 cumecs (cubic meters per second) of discharge and irrigate around 11,000 hectares. However, years of siltation, encroachments, and neglect have reduced its capacity to 6.5 cumecs, even as the area under cultivation has expanded through the addition........

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