The Akhilesh Yadav government has given a go -ahead to farmers of drought-hit Bundelkhand to dig ponds in their farms and store rainwater. Besides, minister have been asked to visit all seven districts of Bundelkhand to ensure that villagers get water and food material regularly.
Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan told 'The Pioneer' on Thursday that the Chief Minister has a given a green signal for 'Farm Pond Scheme' under which 4000 ponds would be dug in the next one month.
"The fundsd for this scheme would be provided by Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and will be released by next week. The DMs have been asked to distribute funds among farmers, willing to have ponds in their land. By preserving rain water, the scheme could effectively fight drought," said the top bureaucrat.
Ranjan said that land for these ponds would be provided by the farmers while the funds for digging them be given by RKVY. "If need be, the gram pradhan can also depute villagers to dig ponds under MNREGA. But permission to utilise MNREGA funds in this work has to be sought from the DM or SDM of that region," he explained.
The go-ahead to farm pond scheme actualised during the CM's Bundelkhand visit when it was brought to his notice that water level in the region had gone down rendering even state-run tube wells inoperative.
Officials said that the UP government plans to replicate the Mehboob Nagar model of Andhra Pradesh under which ground water level was re-charged by preserving rain water. With the Met department predicting a normal monsoon this year, the Akhilesh Yadav government has decided to opt for the Farm Pond Scheme.
In pursuance to CM's instruction to ministers on touring Bundelkhand regularly and monitoring distribution of food grains to drought-hit people, senior minister Vinod alias Pandit Singh visited various places in Banda on Tuesday.
Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Singh said “The SP government is serious on extending help to the drought-hit people. The CM has twice visited the region in the last 19 days. Now, ministers will visit the area on a regular basis,” he said.