Nashik: The NCP legislator, who was locked up along with the irrigation officials by the Devsane and Baripada villagers on Monday, has demanded that the state government immediately sanction funds for undertaking construction of Minor Irrigation (MI) tank in the village.Narhari Zhirwal, NCP legislator of Dindori, said, “There is a scheme for construction of minor irrigation tank at Dahivi village. The construction of the tank in this village would ensure water to Devsane and Baripada hamlets. The state government had sanctioned the project at Dahivi about a decade ago. But so far funds have not been released and so the project could not see the light of the day.”He reminded the state government that the villages of Dindori taluka are not getting any benefits from the water diversion scheme Manjarpada-1 and hence it must give funds for the tank project for the benefit of the villagers.“I have been holding dialogue with the villagers on the issue for a fortnight. They have been demanding water from Manjarpada-1 project that collects water from west flowing rivers in the region and gets diverted into Godavari basin. But it is not helping the villagers of the taluka since the Godavari Marathwada Irrigation Development Corporation (GMIDC) has banned any additional structures,” stated the MLA.On Monday the MLA along with the irrigation department had been to the village Devsane to find a solution for the problem. As the talks failed, the villagers decided to lock them up inside the local temple.“Their demands are genuine which the state government cannot ignore. The locals of the two villages want adequate water for cultivation. Since the construction of water body has not been accepted by the GMIDC under Manjarpada-1, I will demand the state government to give funds for the MI tank, which has been sanctioned a decade ago,” the MLA said.According to the MLA, the MI tank of 80 million cubic feet (mcft) was sanctioned by the state government at Dahivi to aid three villages, including Nalwadi and Nalpada. But since villagers from all the villages opposed the land acquisition project, it went on the backburner.Later, the villagers of Dahivi agreed to sell their land to the government, but people from Nalwadi and Nalpada villagers were still adamant, the government can now construct the MI tank in this village and provide water to Devsane and Barapada villages by gravity.“The project costs not more than Rs 25 crore and it is peanuts when compared to Rs 700 crore projects like Manjarpada. The question is why government is not providing funds for the same,” he questioned.

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