Launching the state-level ‘Amrit Sarovar Mission’ at Nahra village in Sonipat, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said that state’s 8,000 ponds will be renovated under the Amrit Sarovar Mission by August 15, 2022, out of which work has been started on 1600 ponds.
“Haryana’s historic ponds would be renovated as pilgrimage sites. After this, the condition of all the remaining ponds in the entire state will be improved,” he added.
Khattar said that under this mission, by excavating the ponds, building retaining walls, and beautification, the surrounding site will be made attractive. “The Haryana Pond and Waste Water Management Authority have been constituted for the rejuvenation of ponds in the state and a separate provision of Rs 1000 crore has been made for this,” he said.
“There are 18,000 ponds in Haryana, out of which 4,000 are filled with rainwater, while 6,000 are filled with water for animal use and 8,000 ponds are filled with dirty water, which will be treated. Water is the core of healthy land and we would not like to give barren land without water to our next generation,” he added.
Khattar, addressing the public representatives who had joined the Amrit Sarovar Mission programme organized at 111 places across the state through video conferencing, said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi while understanding the basic mantra that ‘Water is Life’ has launched a mission to save the ponds across the country. Modi has called upon the nation to work on a plan to clean or rejuvenate 75 ponds in each district across the country and today’s programme from Haryana is a part of this Mission, he added. Also calling upon the farmers to conserve rainwater, Khattar said that 750 recharging borewells were installed last year. This year, a target has been set to make them 5,000.
“The wastewater, coming out from industries and sewerage, would be recycled and reused through STP. This water will be reused for industries, construction works, horticulture and agriculture through micro-irrigation,” he said.
He said that this water contains components of manure, which is very beneficial for growing vegetables, fruits, flowers and crops.
Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran has also been directed to lay double lines to make this recycled water available for household needs such as washing cars, toilets and gardening, etc.
The Chief Minister said that the need for clean water is increasing continuously. There are 82 lakh acres of cultivable land in the state. Out of this, direct irrigation is done on 40 lakh acres of land, on the rest of the land we are not able to irrigate directly due to lack of clean water, CM added. Calling upon the farmers, the Chief Minister said that they should adopt a micro-irrigation system. For this, 85 percent subsidy is provided by the State Government and only 15 percent of money has to be invested by the farmers.
He said that every year the water level is going down by 1 meter due to tubewell irrigation. Farmers have to put a one-meter pipe in the borewell every year and if we keep doing this then in 10-20 years the land will run out of water which will not only end the fertility of the land but the future generations will also get barren land said, Sh. Manohar Lal.
In a bid to ensure farmers should adopt crop diversification, the State Government is giving an incentive amount of Rs 7000 per acre every year. Last year, under this scheme, farmers reduced the sowing of paddy on 1 lakh acres, Khattar added.