Chief Minister Yadav said that the Madhya Pradesh government is committed to being farmer-friendly, prioritizing the welfare of its Annadata (food providers).
He highlighted that the government is actively working to ensure water reaches every farm, leading to a continuous expansion of irrigated land across the state. This progress is attributed to the implementation of large, medium, and micro irrigation projects by the Water Resources Department.
As a result of improved irrigation systems, farmers are now able to cultivate three crops annually instead of two, boosting agricultural production and contributing to their prosperity.
Yadav stated that the state has witnessed an unprecedented expansion in its irrigated area. In 2003, the irrigated area in Madhya Pradesh was approximately 3 lakh hectares, which has now risen to nearly 50 lakh hectares. With ongoing and upcoming irrigation projects, the irrigated area is projected to reach around 65 lakh hectares by 2025-26. The government aims to further expand the state's irrigation capacity to 1 crore hectares by 2028-29, with work progressing rapidly to achieve this goal.
To support these efforts, the government has allocated substantial funds in the budget. For the financial year 2024-25, a budgetary provision of ?13,596 crore has been made for the construction and maintenance of irrigation projects.
Water Resources Minister Tulsiram Silawat said that the Ken-Betwa Link Project is an ambitious river linking national project among the irrigation projects of the state. It is proposed to construct Daudhan Dam, ancillary work and link canal on Ken River. Under this project, construction of Bina Complex, Kota Barrage and Lower Orr projects in Betwa basin is included. The project will provide irrigation and drinking water facilities to 4.5 lakh hectares of Ken basin through micro irrigation in Chhatarpur, Panna, Tikamgarh, Niwari and Damoh districts of Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, 2.06 lakh hectares of Vidisha, Raisen, Sagar, Shivpuri and Datia districts of Betwa basin and 2.5 lakh hectares of Banda, Mahoba and Jhansi districts of Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh will have full rights over the 103 megawatt hydroelectricity and 27 megawatt solar energy generated from the project.
The DPR of the second phase of the project was prepared by the National Water Development Agency in the year 2014. Under this, 3 projects finally proposed by Madhya Pradesh in Betwa basin are proposed: 96 thousand hectares from Bina complex, 20 thousand hectares from Kota barrage and 90 thousand hectares from Lower Orr project. Also, provision has been made for 66.7 million cubic meters of drinking water and water for industries on demand basis from the projects. All the statutory approvals for the project have been received. Work on the second phase of the project in Madhya Pradesh is in progress. For the implementation of the project, a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Union Council of Ministers has approved Rs 44 crore 605 lakh for the implementation of the project. A target has been set to complete the project in 8 years.
Parvati-Kali-Sindh-Chambal Link Project is another important project, for which a tripartite agreement has been signed between Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and the Central Government. 10 districts of the state will benefit from this project. Ken-Betwa Link Project, Revised Parvati-Kalisindh Project and other proposed important projects of Narmada Valley will increase irrigation facilities in 19 lakh 25 thousand hectares of area in the state.
