Major canal systems across Nepal are supplying water to farmers’ fields during the monsoon paddy season, the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation under the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has reported. The Sunsari Morang Irrigation Project is irrigating 68,000 hectares, including 55,000 hectares through surface irrigation, while the Rajapur Irrigation Management Office is serving 14,138 hectares. The Kamala Irrigation System is also operating during the season.
Irrigation underway in key command areas
The figures reported for Sunsari Morang make it the largest of the named systems by the area specified in the available information. The project is supplying irrigation to 68,000 hectares in total, of which 55,000 hectares are identified as being under surface irrigation. The Department’s update places this activity within the current monsoon paddy season, when canals are being used to deliver water to agricultural fields.
The area figures describe the project’s irrigation coverage, but the update does not provide a breakdown of the remaining area by irrigation method. It also does not state how water deliveries are distributed among individual farms or locations within the project area. The reported total and surface-irrigation figure therefore offer a measure of the project’s scale without detailing how supply is managed at field level.
Rajapur and Kamala systems also operating
The Rajapur Irrigation Management Office is serving 14,138 hectares, according to the Department. The figure identifies the area covered by the system during the paddy season, while the report does not provide further details about the number of farmers served, water volumes or the locations receiving supplies. It confirms, however, that the Rajapur system is among the canal operations supplying fields during the season.
The Kamala Irrigation System is also listed among the canals in operation. No irrigated-area figure for Kamala is included in the information provided, so its coverage cannot be compared directly with the stated figures for Sunsari Morang and Rajapur. Together, the named systems show that irrigation delivery is continuing through multiple canal networks during the monsoon rice-growing period.
Seasonal canal operation
The Department’s update focuses on the operational status of major systems and the areas served by two of them. It confirms that the canals are supplying water to farmers’ fields during the paddy season, but does not give details on water levels, delivery schedules, maintenance work or any constraints affecting individual systems. The information therefore provides a snapshot of ongoing operation rather than a full account of how canal services are being managed across the country.
Reports by Nagarik News, Gorkhapatra Online and Nepal Press have also reported on the canals operating during the rice season. The figures highlighted in the update are 68,000 hectares for Sunsari Morang, including 55,000 hectares under surface irrigation, and 14,138 hectares for Rajapur. Kamala is identified as operational, although no coverage figure is stated.
The Department’s report thus confirms water supply through the named major canal systems during the monsoon paddy season, while offering different levels of detail for each. Sunsari Morang and Rajapur have specified areas under service, whereas Kamala is included in the operational list without an acreage total. No additional figures on overall national canal coverage are provided in the update.
