Uttar Pradesh Jal Shakti minister Swatantra Dev Singh lauded the recent Hindustan Times campaign over the encroachments and pollution in the Kukrail river. Officers have been directed to take required measures to free the river from pollution and encroachments to restore its original trait of a free-flowing river, he said.
Talking to Rajesh Kumar Singh, the minister said the Uttar Pradesh government was working for the preservation and revival of the dying rivers across the state. The focus is also on conservation of ponds, lakes and wetlands for the perennial flow of water in the rivers.
The minister also spoke on various projects launched by Jal Shakti department to increase irrigation facility, maintenance of canal network and rain water harvesting promoted by the department.
What measures are being taken by the Jal Shakti department to restore Kukrail river as a free flowing river?
The department has taken cognizance of the HT report over the encroachments and pollution in the Kukrail river. The district administration and irrigation department officers have been directed to remove the encroachment and prepare a plan to check the flow of the sewage from drains directly into the stream of the river. The district administration has also been directed to relocate the people who have encroached the river basin area. The old pristine Kukrail river will be restored soon. The state government has prepared a plan for the development of the Kukrail area.
What measures have been taken by the Jal Shakti department for groundwater conservation?
{{/usCountry}}What measures have been taken by the Jal Shakti department for groundwater conservation?
{{/usCountry}}The groundwater level in various districts of the state has increased due to the launch of the water conservation drive on a war footing. The work of groundwater conservation is also being carried out extensively at the gram panchayat level under the ‘Atal Bhujal Yojana’. Renovation of ponds, construction of check dams, launch of Amrit Sarovar project, revival of rivers and ponds are being done across the state under the water harvesting programme. The increase in water demand resulted in uncontrolled usage and mismanagement of groundwater. It is essential to maintain availability and quality of groundwater to ensure that our future generations are not deprived of it.
Due to excessive usage of groundwater, many regions were declared as ‘dark-zones’ in terms of availability of groundwater in the state. However, in the last six years, several measures were taken and dedicated efforts were made to improve the situation. Several development blocks are no longer dark zones and significant improvement has been brought about.
Uttar Pradesh has taken lead over other states in providing tap water connection to rural households under the Jal Jeevan Mission. How UP achieved the target?
Before 2019, only 1.96% of rural households in state had tap connections. After the launch of Jal Jeevan Mission, tap water connections have reached 70% of rural households in UP. In the current financial year, the state government has set the target of providing tap connections to 80% rural families. By 2024, every household in UP will have tap water supply. For speedy work, the department ensured that bills of the agencies were cleared without delay. The work of laying pipeline and installation of taps has been entrusted to separate agencies in various districts. We have ensured that there is complete transparency in the work with active participation of the gram panchayats and social organisations’ volunteers. Women are joining as “Pani Samiti” volunteers to learn water testing technique, to create awareness and to motivate villagers to get tap water connections.
What measures have been taken to increase irrigation of agricultural land?
The state irrigation and water resources department is providing irrigation facilities to farmers with 75090.90-km long canal network, 3,4263 government tubewells, 254 minor canals and 69 ponds. After I took charge, my focus has been to ensure that water reaches the tail end of the canals. In 2016-17, the average tail end feed of the canals during rabi and kharif crops season was 18,716 and it has increased to 20,310 tail feed. The irrigation facility increased from 78.08-lakh hectare in 2016-17 to 93.80 lakh hectare area now. Officers have been directed to clean silt from the canals to increase their capacity.
What is the role of irrigation department Yantrik Sangathan (mechanical organisation) in increasing irrigation facilities?
The Uttar Pradesh is working on development of the irrigation network. In 2023-24, the state government allocated ₹20.47 crore for the modernisation of 10 canals. After the completion of the work, irrigation facility will be provided to 3,774 hectare area and benefit 4,760 farmers. Fund has been allocated for the construction of 34 tubewells, modernisation of the 610 tubewells to increase irrigation facilities.
During monsoon, the neighbouring states of Uttarakhand, Delhi and Bihar faced flood fury but Uttar Pradesh managed to control the flood devastation. How?
The state government completed the flood protection projects before the onset of monsoon. There was a regular monitoring in sensitive districts and feedback was collected from the control rooms established in the districts. Twenty-four districts have been identified as extra sensitive to flood while 16 districts are sensitive. The maintenance work on the 3,869-km long embankments along the rivers was also completed. Between 2017-22, the department completed 140 flood protection projects to protect 21.32 lakh hectare area. In 2022-23, work was completed on 283 projects and in 2023-24, the department plans to complete 310 projects to protect 3.92 lakh hectare area.