Under an ambitious Rs143 crore project to be implemented in the State, the dry and parched southern Haryana can look forward to more water irrigating an additional 65,027 hectares, quenching the thirst of the people and filling the ponds. The project has been chalked out after the approval of Chief Minister Manohar lal.
Designed to rehabilitate the Jawaharlal Nehru Feeder (JlN) System, the project will help strengthen weak reaches of the JlN feeder and those of off-taking canals, replace and repair old and worn-out pumping machinery, provide independent feeder lines for supplying uninterrupted power supply to the system, and pare down the energy charges. And, it will help bridge the south-north divide in the state.
An official spokesman on Sunday said that with implementation of the project, the irrigated area in southern Haryana would increase from 16,257 hectares to 81,284 hectares, needs of drinking water would be met to a great extent, and the dry ponds will be filled.
Approved by the Standing Finance Committee “B” of the Finance Department, the project now goes to NABARD for approval for funding. NABARD has assured consideration on priority basis. The benefits of the project would start trickling in as the rehabilitation works progresses.
Further more, the project will result in saving of about Rs 52 crore annually on account of the energy charges due to the increased efficiency of pumps. It would also help remove regional disparity between south-western parts of the state viz-a-viz others by increasing the availability of water and also recharging the ground water, he said.
Work on the Jawahar lal Nehru Feeder System was started in 1973 and completed in 1980 for providing irrigation facility in 2,70,947 hectares and drinking needs of the districts of Rewari, Jhajjar, Mahendergarh, parts of Bhiwani and parts of Rohtak. Presently, there is no system for irrigation through canals in these areas. The designed capacity of JlN Feeder is 3541 Cs.
The major off-taking channels are: loharu Feeder with designed discharge of 1,379 Cs.; JlN Canal with designed discharge 927 Cs. and Mahendergarh Canal with designed discharge 1690 Cs. Besides, there is Salhawas lift Channel with designed discharge 220 Cs; Jhajjar distributary with discharge 218 Cs. and some minor off-takes. Due to less availability of water, the channels now run with 2000 Cs. discharge in summer season and about 2200 Cs. during the rainy season.
The channel had been constructed to carry surplus Ravi-Beas water to southern Haryana, but due to non-construction of the SYl canal in Punjab territory by the Punjab Government, it is presently fed with Yamuna and Sutlej waters. Due to less availability of water, the system is run by rotation. The loharu Feeder runs with maximum 650 Cs; JlN Canal 500 Cs; and Mahendergarh Canal 700 Cs, said the spokesperson.
The available water meets mainly the drinking water needs of southern Haryana besides the irrigation needs to the extent of six per cent to 10 per cent. This is essentially lift canal system in which about 100 pump houses have been constructed to supply water to the higher reaches. It is continuously running for the last 35 years during which no major rehabilitation of pumps/motors has been done, said he.
The spokesperson added, “This had resulted in reduced efficiency of the pumps to about 40-50 per cent resulting in reduced lifting of the discharge. Extra pumps have to be run to increase the discharge resulting in increased energy charges. Presently, the energy charges for the system run into about Rs140 crore annually. It is difficult to run JlN Feeder with even 2200 Cs. due to its dilapidated condition.”