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Minister bans irrigation to...
2006-09-08 09:29:00
By Mawazo Malembeka, PST, Iringa
Minister for Water Stephen Wassira has banned irrigation activities upstream on main rivers that feed Mtera Dam, the country’s main source of hydropower.
Wassira said the ban came into force early this week, during his tour of the river’s catchments in Iringa.
The move, however, has sparked complaints from farmers in the village, who through their representatives, said they were likely to face an acute food shortage.
Itunundu councillor Philip Mkumbata, who represented the villagers, said they would be unable to irrigate their maize, rice and vegetable farms.
Iringa is one of the five major regions that produce most of the food consumed in the country.
The Rufiji Basin Water Office (RBWO),recently suspended the supply of water for irrigation to Itunundu village in Pawaga Ward to save the Mtera Dam from drying up.
The RBWO has partially blocked the irrigation canal that directs water to farms in Pawaga from the Small Ruaha River to increase the supply of water to the dam.
Councillor Mkumbata said on behalf of other villagers: ’Now that the water supply has been reduced drastically, all the crops will wilt and we might face acute food shortages.’
However, the minister was firm that the decision would stand and said the move by the water authority was legal and would be enforced.
’We cannot bend the law for the benefit of a few people and neither can I revoke the decision made by RBWO because it is protected by the law,’ he told the villagers.
He insisted that the government would rather feed the Itunundu villagers should they run out of food than allow the country to face a huge economic loss.
However, he said: “The government is aware that Pawaga is a semi-arid area and you depend on irrigation for your agriculture.
We would like you to go on with irrigation farming, but this should be done with due consideration to the laws and regulations governing the use of water.’
Wassira advised the farmers to rehabilitate the irrigation canals, most of which are in bad shape, to reduce wastage.
Earlier, an RBWO official Willy Mwaluvanda told the minister that according to regulations, the canal that supplies water to Itunundu should discharge 180 litres per second during the rainy season.
’But during the dry season, the supply is reduced to between 40 and 46 litres per second, and this is what the canal discharges currently,’ he clarified.
He added the authority has been guided by existing laws in reducing the water supply to Itunundu but the need to supply Mtera Dam with enough water so as to produce electricity has also been considered.
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