Chandigarh: The Haryana Government has chalked out an action plan to tackle the problem of water scarcity in various districts, especially Bhiwani, Mohindergarh, Rewari, Gurgaon, Mewat, Faridabad and Palwal.

Under the plan, it would construct 580 water courses covering an area of 56,759 hectares during the current financial year. For this, the government has sought financial assistance from the Union Water Resources Ministry.

The government has prepared two new irrigation schemes—Siwani Canal Command Project and Loharu Canal Command Project— involving an investment of Rs 406 crore to provide irrigation facilities over an area of 1,99,731 hectares.

“Under the Siwani Canal Command Project, a total of 738 water courses would be constructed at a cost of Rs 178.81 crore in an area of 89,765 hectares in Bhiwani alone,”  Irrigation Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav said while reviewing the working of Command Area Development Authority (CADA) schemes being implemented in the state.

He further said similarly the Loharu Canal Command Project would cover 1,10,056 hectares of land and a total of 926 water courses would be constructed at a cost of Rs 227.16 crore.

“The Irrigation Department has been directed by the Minister to complete the land reclamation of water courses within next six months. The Jawahar Lal Nehru Canal Command Project Phase-II would also be expedited as the scheme is being implemented at a cost of Rs 148.80 crore and 9,93,83 hectares of land would be covered under the scheme by constructing 525 water courses,” Irrigation Department Engineer-in-Chief  Harmail Singh said.

Singh said an action plan has been chalked out by the CADA under which 56,759 hectares of land would be covered and 580 water courses would be constructed during the current financial year. 

The Irrigation Department will start excavating the ponds during the rainy season and would complete the process within next three months. Apart from this, ‘ghats’ would also be constructed.

“These steps would help farmers to have an easy access to water throughout the year for irrigation purposes,”  he  added.