Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday gave approval for an ambitious project of rehabilitation and upgradation of irrigation water field channels in south-west Punjab at a cost of Rs 150 crore.
Badal, presiding over a high-level meeting to review the progress of various irrigation projects, said that the project should be taken on top priority as the field channels carrying irrigation water to the farmer’s fields in the water-logged areas of south west Punjab required immediate up-gradation on account of dilapidated condition leading to water logging and water use inefficiency.
He said that funds to the tune of Rs 100 crore would be taken from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and remaining funds of Rs 50 crore from the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) for the said purpose.
The Chief Minister directed the state Irrigation Department to take up this project immediately and should be completed by December 2016 so as to tap maximum irrigation potential in the south-west Punjab on one hand, and reduce the problem of water logging on the other.
It was also decided in the meeting that 27 minors and distributaries in the south-west Punjab, which were in bad shape, would be immediately taken up for repair, rehabilitation and remodelling at a cost of Rs 82.88 crore.
Badal asked the Chief Engineer (Canals) to immediately prepare a project of these canals for seeking administrative and financial sanction from the government.
The Chief Minister asked the state Finance Department to fund the rehabilitation of these canals, distributaries, or minors out of state budget for which the Finance Department would release a sum of Rs eight crore every month for the next 10 months.
Meanwhile, the Irrigation Secretary apprised Badal that on account of demand from Agriculture department for irrigation, water to be supplied in the month of April.
For early sowing of cotton due to threat of whitefly, the Irrigation Department could not take up annual cleaning of canals in south-west Punjab, especially Ferozepur, feeder leading to silting of the feeder resulting in low carrying capacity of the feeder due to which inadequate water was being supplied in canals fed from Harike head-works.
Taking cognizance of the entire issue, Badal asked the Irrigation Secretary and Chief Engineer (Canals) to immediately take corrective measures so as to enable the farmers of the region to harness full potential of canal irrigation.