ગુજરાતી
English
Gandhinagar, 6 January 2020
Gujarat has 42 coastal coastal islands. There are many islands around the mouth of the river and in between. But there is also a large man-made island called Simlet. The island has been artificially built since the government took over the land in 1972. Panam bandh has since become an artificial island.
The dam has completely demolished life of the people of the village.
Simlet Island is located in the middle of Panam reservoir, Panam Dam in Lunawada, in the discharge area of Shehra taluka of Mahisagar district. The island is known as Simlet Village. It is home to 80 families. There is a population of 500 people. Simlet village is spread over an area of 2 square km.
Panchmahal district city Morwa Hadaf taluka centers are located on one side. On the other side is the Panam Dam for agricultural irrigation.
Before the Panam dam was built, the village was connected to the road. Now being surrounded by water, there is no road to reach here. People go in boats.
There is no vehicle in the village
People here know less about driving. They know how to sail a boat. No one has a bicycle, bike, tractor or car in the village. There is only boat.
Gave another land
The government has allocated agricultural land elsewhere to some people living in Simlet. They have not gone to live there. The government has not even evacuated the village, as the water level around the village is not rising. The water does not sink into the gamb dam.
Problems
Denied basic facilities even after independence. No electricity. No primary school. Simlet Gram Panchayat, Co-operative Society, Health Center, Milk Dairy, Polling Station, Road, No Primary Health Facilities. Since the town’s Mehalan seems to be a gram panchayat, one has to go there for related work. The local people have to depend on the surrounding villages.
The doctor comes once a month. In maternity and emergency the patient has to go by boat. Sometimes people die in a country boat with a helsa.
No school
As there is no primary school, children have to risk their lives to go out to study in a small boat. School had started, it was closed.
Is document
Families in the village have the necessary documents like election card, Aadhaar card, ration card. In Mehlan village, 242 voters have to go to the polling station.
Life
The lives of people living on Simlet Island are in crisis. He makes a living by farming and animal husbandry. To buy the necessities of life, you have to visit the shops of villages around the city.
Panam Dam
The Panam Dam is built on the 25 km long Panam River. An irrigation scheme has been established on the Panam River, which originates from Deogarhbaria in Dahod. Panam merges into the Mahi River. The dam is located in Santrampur taluka of Mahisagar district. In 1972 the government took the land of the farmers.
Canal
The 100 km long canal with a capacity of 21 cubic meters was completed in 1999. Panam Dam provides winter and summer irrigation to 36500 hectares of farmers in 132 villages of Panchmahal, Vadodara and MahIsagar districts.
The 100 km long canal has 900 km branch or sub-branch canals. From 130 meters of water, 180 million cubic meters of water is used for irrigation, 15 mcm for water supply, 25 mcm for storage, 30 mcm for leakage and evaporation. The crops of wheat, millet and maize often dry up due to lack of water in the fields of many villages at the end of the canal.
A 2 MW hydroelectric plant was built in 1994.
Seized government property
The court ordered the confiscation of government properties in 2018 as the government had not compensated the land. The executive engineer of Panam seized a Tata Sumo jeep. Panam’s return to farmers
Court ordered 6 farmers to pay Rs 5.15 lakh with interest of Rs 1.47 lakh for the land.
The government had given compensation of Rs 700 per acre of agricultural land. The farmers went to court by paying less. The government then had to pay crores of rupees.
23 farmers of Aniyad village pay 2 crores. 75 lakhs to 15 farmers of Ambavazdigam. 16 farmers of Khatkapurgam had to pay Rs. 3 crores, thus paying Rs. 8-9 crores after court order.
High level canal
In 2017, Rs 215 crore was allocated for the construction of high level canals. Panam High Level Canal 30 km Length and capacity of 800 cusecs. 115 feet below the canal mountain is a 3.2 km engineering skill. It became longer in 2014. It was planned to fill 53 lakes in 38 villages of Panchmahal-Mahisagar district at a cost of Rs 23 crore. In which 86.5 km long pipeline is connected to the network and is carried by filling water from 6 different places.
About 11 thousand farmers and 45 thousand rural population of 38 villages of 10 thousand hectare area get the benefit of irrigation. In which 53 ponds are filled using In pipelines with capacity of 10 cusec to 40 cusec from 4 pumping stations using 12 kW to 400 kW electric current to lift water from 13 meters to 24 meters.
Canal lift
The BJP built the Udavan Canal here after 25 years of rule. On January 2, 2020, under the Water Resources Department, a Rs 315-crore Panam reservoir-based project was planned to fill the lake. 138 crore rupees The plan to fill the lake with Panam high level canal based lift was finalized at a cost of Rs. In which 43500 hectare land of 128 villages will get the benefit of irrigation. This means that even though the Panam scheme is 50 years old, it is still incomplete.
On October 10, 2020, Panam Dam did not provide irrigation water for summer crop cultivation. Many times farmers are not given water. .
Filling with water can be very beneficial for the big river farmers of Panchmahal district from Narmada canal.
Panchmahal comes to the Lok Sabha seat. 250 voters 2 km Dur goes to the primary school in Mehlan to vote. No party or leader goes to the island for campaigning. Island voters do not pay to vote.
