Punjab cabinet minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra, on Thursday, laid the foundation stone of the state’s largest irrigation project aimed at utilizing 27 MLD (million litre per day) of treated water from the Sewage Treatment Plant-Moga, on the occasion of the 54th anniversary of the department of soil and water conservation.
The project will benefit the agricultural fields of four nearby villages. Jauramajra, while addressing the farmers after laying the foundation stone, said that chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led government under its efforts aimed at preventing further depletion of underground water and reducing the agricultural input costs for the farmers, has set a target to double the treated water usage to 600 MLD by end of the current financial year, thus benefitting 20,000 hectares of agriculture land.
The state is at present utilizing 320 MLD for irrigation, he added.
Lauding the efforts of the department, he informed that this is to date the biggest treated water irrigation project of the state being built at the total cost of ₹12.87 crore and benefiting more than 1,000 hectares of agricultural land of 1,100 farmer households.
“To mitigate the threat of water scarcity and desertification, which is likely to be witnessed in the next 20-25 years in the state at present water consumption level, we must immediately adopt low water requiring diversified cropping patterns and intelligent irrigation techniques so that we and our upcoming generations may never witness dry taps,” the minister said.
{{/usCountry}}“To mitigate the threat of water scarcity and desertification, which is likely to be witnessed in the next 20-25 years in the state at present water consumption level, we must immediately adopt low water requiring diversified cropping patterns and intelligent irrigation techniques so that we and our upcoming generations may never witness dry taps,” the minister said.
{{/usCountry}}He said groundwater resources of the state are declining at an alarming rate with 117 out of 150 blocks comprising nearly 80% of the state’s geographical area already under the over-exploited category, stressing on need to develop such kind of alternate surface water-based irrigation water sources and also maximizing canal water usage to arrest declining groundwater resources of the state.
Mohinder Singh Saini, chief conservator of soils, Punjab, informed said that the present project is being constructed under NABARD-assisted Rural Infrastructure Development Funds. Moga MLA Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora was also present on the occasion.