UP govt to channelise water of overflowing rivers to parched fields

Chief minister directs the irrigation department to prepare a detailed action plan to divert floodwater to all 71 reservoirs of the state by desilting them

LUCKNOW Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday directed the irrigation department to channelise water of overflowing rivers to the agriculture fields in districts that received scanty rainfall.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath . (File Photo)

With the recent heavy rains in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the water levels of many rivers in UP had surged, leading to flooding in districts along Saryu, Ganga and Yamuna rivers.

Reviewing the situation in districts that received deficient rainfall, the CM asked the irrigation department to prepare a detailed action plan to divert floodwater to all 71 reservoirs of the state by desilting them.

Water of the overflowing rivers should be channelised to the reservoirs, and from the reservoirs, the water should be sent to the agriculture fields through the network of canals, he said.

During the last two years, several districts suffered huge damage to the kharif crops because of scanty rainfall, and this year, deficient rainfall was recorded in 40 districts. Eighteen districts received normal rainfall and 17 received more rain than normal rainfall, said a state government spokesperson.

Due to scanty rainfall, agriculture fields had started drying and farmers were likely to suffer losses, he added.

However despite rise in water level of various rivers, eastern UP districts were in the grip of a drought-like situation. A total of 233.5mm rainfall was recorded in eastern UP this year from the southwest monsoon, which was 64.8mm less than normal. The lowest rainfall was recorded in Sant Kabir Nagar, Pilibhit, Mau, Mirzapur, Deoria, Kushinagar and Kaushambi districts.

The state had 75090.90km of canal network that supplies water to various districts, he said.