As many as 155 new schemes costing Rs 154 crore were approved by Haryana State Drought Relief and Flood Control Board on Tuesday.
The Board which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal here approved these schemes (except in Jind district) including 96 short term schemes which are targeted to be completed by June 30 this year.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister, Capt. Abhimanyu was also present in the meeting.
Most of the schemes which were approved are of river training works, strengthening and remodeling of drains, replacement of bridges on drains, procurement of flood machinery and pumps.
While addressing the Deputy Commissioners through video conferencing and other senior officers of various concerned departments present in the meeting, the Chief Minister said that the present State Government has started a tradition of holding meetings of State Drought Relief and Flood Control Board long before the onset of monsoon season as earlier such meetings were held in the months of April or May which was merely a formality.
He said that as floods could result in huge loss to life and property, prior arrangements should be made to avert any untoward situation.
He directed the officers’ concerned to monitor the progress of all flood related works and projects and ensure that these complete well before time.
The Chief Minister also directed them to identify overflowing ponds in the State and make necessary arrangements of drainage of excess water through pumps. He also issued directions for the cleanliness and desilting of drains in the state.
Manohar Lal directed the Deputy Commissioners to ensure that no flood related project is dropped due to non-availability of land.
Asking them to make adequate arrangement of land, he said that all the DCs should ensure that the collector rates in their districts are revised keeping in view the market rates so that land owners might not feel hesitant in offering their lands for the government projects.
While stating that ‘hope for the best but prepare for the worst’, the Chief Minister directed that a list of pumps available with the departments of irrigation and water resources and public health engineering department and Municipal Corporations be compiled at the earliest so that the same could be utilized in case of flooding or disaster.
The Chief Minister was informed that irrigation and water resource Department has an inventory of 1951 pumps. The department has added 245 additional pumps in its inventory this year.
He also directed the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare to prepare a comprehensive plan to deal with the problem of water logging.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister, Capt. Abhimanyu directed that officers should ensure that work on the projects start immediately after getting approval. At the time of approval of projects, the time of completion of works should also be mentioned so that the same could be completed on time, he said.
During the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management Department Keshni Anand Arora suggested that work pertaining to flood abatement be considered for deliberation in the Haryana State Drought Relief and Flood Control Board and the structures works which may otherwise be important should be taken up by PWD (B&R) and other departments.