Subsoil water crucial for Punjab, asserts Rakhra

Punjab rural development minister Surjit Singh Rakhra on Friday said that saving subsoil water should be on top of states' priority list. He expressed these views taking part in a regional review meeting of northern states for the integrated watershed management programme of the water conservation department of union ministry of rural development.

Punjab rural development minister Surjit Singh Rakhra on Friday said that saving subsoil water should be on top of states' priority list. He expressed these views taking part in a regional review meeting of northern states for the integrated watershed management programme of the water conservation department of union ministry of rural development. Representatives of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand also took part besides union secretary, soil conservation, BB Srivastva.

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Rakhra assured in the meeting that Punjab is fully committed to implementing the programme, terming it crucial for the agrarian state with estimated 80% of land under cultivation.

He said that groundwater in Punjab is depleting fast and the land thus turning infertile.