Chandigarh, May 23 (IANS) Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said on Saturday that the state government is committed to ensuring that adequate irrigation water reaches every farming field.

For this purpose, the Irrigation Department should form farmer groups and construct community tanks for every 10 acres or more of agricultural land.

“These tanks will be filled with canal water, and irrigation will be carried out through micro-irrigation systems. The Government will provide 85 per cent subsidy for the construction of such tanks,” CM Saini added.

The Chief Minister said this while chairing a review meeting of the Irrigation and Water Resources Department’s five-year action plan under Haryana Vision-2047 held here.

He added that the department must move beyond traditional irrigation systems and, in line with the concept of “Per Drop — More Crop” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the department must prepare future-ready plans aligned with developed countries that efficiently manage limited water resources in order to achieve the goals of “Viksit Bharat at 2047”.

He said that despite limited water resources their optimum utilisation is possible and departmental schemes must be visible on the ground.

He directed that farmers be made aware to reduce open-field irrigation practices.

The cost of irrigation for farmers will be minimised, and under the new system, farmers will not need to install tubewells for irrigation.

The Chief Minister directed that this initiative should initially be implemented in nine districts — Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Gurugram, Mahendragarh, Nuh, Rewari, Hisar, Jhajjar and Sirsa — where farmer groups will be formed and community tanks constructed for land holdings of 10 acres or more with 85 per cent government subsidy.

He said water will be supplied to these tanks through canal pipelines, and solar panels will be installed on them.

The Chief Minister said drip and sprinkler irrigation systems will be implemented in the connected fields, enabling farmers to irrigate crops as per requirement.

This will eliminate the need for tubewells and reduce dependence on electricity and water availability.

Open-field irrigation will be discontinued, enabling more area to be irrigated with less water.

The Chief Minister said the Irrigation Department may initiate tenders this year to convert entire village agricultural land into micro-irrigation systems in the selected nine districts, involving modern agri-technology companies.

This will enable farmers to receive irrigation water in a smart and efficient manner without additional expenditure, he added.

–IANS

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