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Action plan to reduce Haryana’s 14 billion cubic metre water deficit by 49% in 2 yrs: Khattar
Haryana CM Khattar, who on Friday launched the biennial IWRAP 2023-25, said Haryana is experiencing a water deficit of about 14 billion cubic metre annually with the total water demand across all sectors going up to about 34.96 billion cubic metre per year (about 34 lakh crore litres).
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday said that the biennial Integrated Water Resources Action Plan (IWRAP) 2023-25 aims at reducing the state’s water deficit by 49.7% in a period of two years.
The aim is to save a total of 22% water in the first year and 27.7% water in the second year. This shows our endeavour to conserve this valuable resource, he said.
Khattar, who on Friday launched the biennial IWRAP 2023-25, said Haryana is experiencing a water deficit of about 14 billion cubic metre annually with the total water demand across all sectors going up to about 34.96 billion cubic metre per year (about 34 lakh crore litres). The state has a total water availability of about 20.93 billion cubic metre which included the surface water, the groundwater and the treated wastewater.
The chief minister said that the IWRAP also aimed at meeting the twin challenges of water depletion and waterlogging. The action plan will serve as a roadmap to achieve the targets of water saving and water management in the state,” Khattar said at the launch ceremony.
“All water-related departments have come forward and taken the ownership to conserve water through various demand and supply side interventions, which would save around 6.97 lakh crore litres (49.7 %) of water in next two years,” he said.
The CM said that the maximum amount of water is used in agriculture and horticulture sector, which are 86% and 5%, respectively. Continuous efforts are needed to reduce water consumption by adopting water conservation methods, he said.
He said that the agriculture department has included various measures in the action plan and 3.14 lakh acres of area will be covered under crop diversification, which will save 1.05 lakh crore litres (7.6%) water. Direct seeding of paddy will be done in 4.75 lakh acres and will save 1.18 lakh crore liters (8.4%) while 27.53 lakh acres will be brought under conservation tillage to save 0.51 lakh crore liters (3.7%).
The chief minister said that the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal was a pivotal issue for Haryana and Punjab. “We are hopeful that this issue will soon be resolved. The construction of SYL is not in our hands,” he said.
Khattar said that three dams, Renuka, Lakhwar and Kishau, are being built to ensure regulation of water. With the construction of these dams, the water needs of the state would certainly be addressed.
“Plans are also being made to explore the utilisation of small sources of water. Dams will be constructed, and plans will be formulated to ensure how this water can be utilised for local use. Work is being done on nine dams,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, chairperson, Haryana Water Resources Authority (HWRA), Keshni Anand Arora said since the groundwater level is fast depleting, working on water conservation in mission mode was the need of the hour.
“To achieve this target, this plan has been the major objectives of doing the assessment of water resources availability and demand, determination of demand and supply gap and the identification of key challenges and strategy,” Arora said.
