State government plans to save 75 per cent water through micro irrigation.

Chandigarh, July 28 –The Haryana Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Minister, Mr OP Dhankar, has said the state government plans to save 75 per cent water through micro irrigation. The resultant savings on grant would render the irrigation budget surplus and water could be arranged in areas where required. Annual subsidy of Rs 7,800 crore is given on irrigation in the state.

Mr Dhankar was speaking at a function organized by the Union Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Department, in New Delhi today. The Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Mrs Uma Bharti, was also present on this occasion.

Giving information about the 15 micro-irrigation projects in Haryana, Mr Dhankar said these would provide 12 months of canal water to the farmers. The farmers would only have to give information about the arrangement of irrigation in their farm and water would be made available immediately on a fixed fee. This plan would be gradually extended to all areas.
The state government will definitely fulfill the promise to bring water to every farm. Work is being done on a dream project to ensure delivery of water through micro-irrigation. As many as 15 such pilot projects are being set up in the state and the first one will be launched at Pehwa on July 30.

Mr Dhankar said Haryana was losing farming on about 40 lakh acres of land every year due to the shortage of water. To overcome this deficit, there is need to bring more water and change the way it is used in every field. In this era of modern price-smart and climate-smart cultivation, there is need to understand the importance of precious water and cultivation has to be put on micro-irrigation..

He said work was also being carried out to provide water to the tail-ends of 1,400 canals in the state. Besides, a water recharging system would also be developed on 850 drains to ensure recharge of the depleting ground water table. Apart from this, water recharging system will be developed by adding 1,500 ponds to the canals in the state. Haryana is working on more effective schemes to utilize the available water.
Mr Dhankar said due to shortage of water, the department had also taken steps to dig underground minors. As a pilot project, water would be supplied through pipeline in Subana Minor. With this, water would reach the tail-end without any waste, he added.