Minister: Yogi govt completed 18 irrigation projects

To double the income of farmers and to alleviate the water problems in the state, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has completed and operationalised a total of 18 impending irrigation projects benefitting more than 50 lakh farmers in the state, said Jal Shakti Minister Dr Mahendra Singh.

“Nearly 18 projects including the Saryu Canal National Project, Arjun Sahayak Canal Project, and Bansagar Project that were pending for years have been completed and made operational in the last four and a half years of our government which will facilitate the irrigation of additional 20 lakh hectares of land, benefiting more than 50 lakh farmers of the state,” the minister said.

The Saryu Canal Project was envisaged in 1971-72, while the work started on it in 1978. Initially when the project was launched in 1978 to expand irrigation capacity in Bahraich and Gonda districts, it was called Ghaghra Canal. However, in 1982-83, the scope of the project was expanded with the inclusion of nine districts of the trans-Ghaghra-Rapti-Rohini region of Purvanchal, and it was renamed the Saryu Project. The nine districts are Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur, and Maharajganj.

It is noteworthy that the previous governments entirely neglected this major agricultural project, which would have solved many of the problems of farmers decades ago. The previous governments did not even bother to allocate sufficient funds for the project so that it could be completed on time. The Yogi Adityanath government, after assuming office in 2017, provided sufficient funds and expedited work on the project.

“A total of Rs 5,189 crore was spent on this project from 1978 to 2017, whereas from 2017 till now, a total of Rs 4,613 crore has been spent by the government. Over 14.50 lakh hectares of land can be irrigated by this project, which will benefit about 30 lakh farmers,” Singh said.

Under the project, a total of 23,228 pucca works were done of which from 1978 to 2017 a total of 10,365 works were done. While at the same time, 12,863 pucca works were done in the last four and a half years of the Yogi government.

Total canals to be built under the Saryu canal national project were 992 and the length of these canals is 6,623 km. It is worth mentioning that between 1978 and 2017, only 290 canals were constructed with a length of about 2000 km. Whereas, in the tenure of Yogi Adityanath, from 2017-2021, 702 canals were completed and operationalised whose length is 4,623 km.

In a significant initiative to alleviate water distress in the districts like Mahoba, Hamirpur and Banda and to bring relief to the farmers of the state, the Arjuna Sahayak Irrigation Project worth Rs 2,655 crore was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November. The megaproject on the river Dhasan, which was started in 2008-2009, will not only provide irrigation facilities to over 1.5 lakh farmers of about 168 villages of Mahoba, Banda and Hamirpur but will also facilitate the provision of clean drinking water (potable water) to over 4 lakh families residing in water-scarce regions.

Giving information about the Arjun Sahayak project, Dr Mahendra Singh said, “Due to the neglect of the previous governments, not only the completion of the project was delayed but also its cost increased. From 2008-09 to 2017 a total of 737 hectares of land was taken for digging the canal. While 1673 hectares was acquired after Yogi Adityanath became the chief minister.”

Moreover, from 2009 to 2012, 41 km of the canal and from 2012-2017 only 14 km could be constructed, while 189 km of the canal was constructed from 2017-2021, he added.

In this project, only 11 pucca works were done from 2009 to 2012 and between 2012-2017 only 10 pucca works were done. The project was completed by completing a record 163 pucca works from 2017-2021.

From the total allocation of Rs 2,655 crore for the project, Rs 337 crore was spent on this project from 2009 to 2012 and only Rs 553 crore was spent from 2012-2017. The present state government has spent Rs 1,764 crore on the project from 2017-2021.

The jal shakti minister also said that the canal built over a length of 244 km from Arjun Sahayak Canal Project would provide irrigation facilities to 69,000 hectares of land and it would benefit 1.49 lakh farmers.

Discussing the Baan Sagar project, the minister said that 1.50 lakh hectares of land was being irrigated by this project, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, and it was benefiting two lakh farmers.