Appreciating Punjab Government’s holistic approach to the problems of agriculture, water and power, the World Bank on Wednesday offered to sponsor the state’s projects for finding comprehensive long-term solutions in these critical areas.
0Punjab was the only state that was talking about an integrated solutions-based approach to the problems relating to water, agriculture and power, said the World Bank Country Director India Junaid Ahmad who met Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh along with a delegation.
Ahmad said if Punjab wins the challenge of water, energy and agriculture, it would set an example for the world for shifting from narrow-based projects to more complex and comprehensive ones.
The Chief Minister informed the delegation that providing potable water across the State, especially in parts of the southern Punjab, was a major challenge as the groundwater table was depleting day-by-day due to vicious circle of wheat and rabi.
Pollution of river water had touched alarming levels, he said, adding industrial and municipal wastes had badly affected the river waters.
Amarinder sought assistance from the World Bank in strengthening the State Government’s efforts to combat the problem of water depletion and pollution, and provide clean drinking water and better sanitation facilities to the people. He also emphasised the need for improvement in traditional methods of agriculture, besides motivating the farmers to shift away from wheat and paddy crops.
The Chief Minister took up the issue of managing urbanisation in the State, which the World Bank team pointed out that it could be done either with the existing model followed by India or the China model, where Mayors were appointed as ‘managers’.
On the issue of power, the Chief Minister urged the team to extend help to the State Government for further diversification into renewable energy sources, such as solar, gas based and wind power. He said that the state had received offers from various companies, including GE, for setting up gas based power plants.