Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday announced to launch a massive drive to preserve the state’s flora and fauna along with recharging the water table to save water for our coming generations. 
 
Mann, addressing the gathering after laying the foundation stone of Chitti Bein, said that Punjab is a sacred land of great Gurus and saints, who have shown us the way to preserve the environment. “Following in the footsteps of the Gurus, the State Government will soon embark upon a massive campaign to preserve the state’s natural resources. While there is no dearth of funds for this noble cause, people should support it and make the campaign a mass movement,” he said.
 
Slamming the opposition parties for blatantly ignoring the environmental issues, Mann said that as water, air, and land had no votes, these leaders ignored them. “Due to this, massive pollution and degradation of these natural resources took place thereby causing an irreparable loss to the society. After the formation of the AAP government in the State, steps have been taken to save the environment,” he said.
 
The Chief Minister said that since long the successive state governments had also ignored the core sectors of health and education. “However, after the formation of AAP Government, complete transformation of these sectors have taken place. Due to government’s strenuous efforts, Punjab will soon be a front ranking state across the country in these sectors,” he added.
 
He said that the State Government is taking massive steps for optimum utilization of the canal water to save the groundwater. “At present, Punjab is using only 33-34 per cent of its canal water. This will be enhanced in the coming days,” he said.
 
Mann envisioned that if Punjab can enhance the canal water utilization to 60 per cent in the first phase, nearly four lakh tubewells, out of total 14 lakhs, can be stopped thereby helping in saving water.
 
He said that in a unique endeavour aimed at the farmers’ well-being, the State Government organized first of its kind Sarkaar-Kisan Milni to bail them out from the ongoing agrarian crisis. “Due to ever escalating input costs and diminishing returns, agriculture is no longer a profitable venture and the state’s farmers are on cross roads. The sole motive of organizing this interaction is to reduce the gap between decision makers and stakeholders so that policies are designed as per the needs of the farmers,” he said.
 
He added, “The water supply has been ensured in the state’s cotton belt so as to make sure that cotton cultivators are benefited in a big way. Massive efforts have been made to ensure uninterrupted and adequate canal water supply reaches at the tail ends.”
 
The Chief Minister reiterated that instead of Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, the project should be now conceived as Yamuna Satluj Link (YSL). “Satluj river has already dried up and there is no question of sharing even a single drop of water from it. Rather, water from Ganga and Yamuna should be supplied to Punjab through Satluj river to cater the needs of the State,” he said.