Experts at a seminar here yesterday urged the government to include the proposed surface water based North Rajshahi Irrigation Project (NRIP) in the upcoming budget to increase food production in there district. They said, implementation of the Tk 860 crore project would help increase food production by 2.11 lakh tonnes by providing irrigation facility to 74850 hectares of land in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and Naogaon. A feasibility study of the project was completed in 1988 and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JAICA) expressed its willingness to assist the project, sources said. Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB) with assistance of joint forces organised the seminar on the proposed project at a city community centre. WDB additional director general M Habibur Rahman, chaired the seminar. Prof Dr AFM Anowarul Haque, vice chancellor of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (Ruet) attended the seminar as chief guest. Buet's water resources engineering department teachers Dr M Fazlul Bari and Dr M Monowar Hossain, Ruet teachers Dr Shafiuddin Miah and Iqbal Matin, RU teachers Dr Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan and Dr Golam Sabbir Sattar addressed the seminar, among others. Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) executive director SM Abdul Mannan, Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil, journalists and development workers also spoke. The speakers said, the excessive extraction of groundwater by deep tube-wells of BMDA over years has already started leaving an adverse impact in Rajshahi region. This is also causing incidents of land subsidence and water crisis, they added. Use of groundwater for irrigation also increases risk of long-term environmental pollution as the surface is being contaminated with iron and other chemical substances, they said. The proposed project covers 178200 hectares in Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi and Naogaon, of which some 133700 hectares are arable. Among the arable lands, about 74800 hectares targeted under the project, are yet to be brought under irrigation by BMDA. WDB assessed that about 80 cubic meter water per second, needed for irrigating the lands, would be collected from Padma river and would be circulated into the 52.50km main canal from Godagari-Nacheral to Khatirpur, 239km branch canals and 427 sub-canals. A main pump machine and a booster pump will be set up in Godagari and Amnura areas while there would be two power stations under the project.