In a significant relief for farmers in Gopalganj district, the Gandak (Narayani) river will now provide year-round irrigation to fields, substantially reducing dependency on monsoon rains. The Water Resources Department has granted in-principle approval for establishing lift irrigation schemes in Barौली, Sidhwalia, and Baikunthpur blocks.

Under this scheme, three modern pump houses will be set up along the Gandak river. These pump houses will supply irrigation water to approximately 39,000 hectares of agricultural land, providing year-round irrigation facilities to thousands of farmers. Gopalganj is the only district in North Bihar where the government has approved such a comprehensive scheme.

Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary gave the in-principle approval for this project. Instructions have also been issued to prepare Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for all three projects. Once implemented, the scheme will benefit various crops, including paddy, rabi crops, maize, vegetables, and sugarcane, with consistent irrigation throughout the year.

According to the Water Resources Department, the lift irrigation projects will be established in Sikatiya (Bhagar) village of Barौली block, Dumaria of Sidhwalia, and Munja village of Baikunthpur. These locations have ample water in the river throughout the year, but farmers were deprived of irrigation facilities due to the lack of a canal system. The new scheme will use modern pump houses to lift water from the river and deliver it directly to the fields.

Farmers in these areas, located within an 80 to 120-kilometer radius of the Gandak river, were annually affected by a lack of irrigation. Rain-fed agriculture also hampered production. With the implementation of the lift irrigation scheme, cultivation of paddy, wheat, maize, sugarcane, pulses, oilseeds, and vegetables will receive a new impetus, leading to an expected significant increase in agricultural output.