Chandigarh, April 1 – Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal today virtually interacted with the beneficiaries of "Mera Pani-Meri Virasat Yojana". During the interaction, he called upon the people of the state to conserve water for future generations. Giving the title of "Amrit Krantikari Mitra" to the farmers who contributed in water conservation, he said that the government is taking effective steps to overcome water crisis on earth. He said that water is essential for survival of human life on earth. He urged the people of the state to come forward and participate in the grassroot implementation of such initiatives of the state government. Lauding the progressive farmers for conserving water by adopting "Mera Pani-Meri Virasat Yojana", he said that groundwater depletion and drying up of water bodies has been a major concern of the government.
The Chief Minister said that the Haryana Water Resources Authority has prepared a village-wise report of ground water availability. This report reveals that out of 7,287 villages of Haryana, 3,041 villages are facing a water crisis and the government is making concrete efforts to solve the problem of water shortage. Out of these villages, groundwater has been critically depleted in 1,948 villages. If decreasing of water level continues in the same pattern, then the future generations have to face critical consequences, he added.
“Mera Pani Meri Virasat” was launched on 6th May, 2020
The Chief Minister said that in order to overcome the water crisis and conserve water for the coming generations, Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi had also given a call to start a campaign for water conservation. Taking inspiration from this campaign, Haryana took initiative to launch a unique scheme “Mera Pani Meri Virasat” in the state from May 6, 2020. In this direction during Kharif season-2020, stress was given to grow less water consuming crops like maize, cotton, millet, pulses, vegetables and fruits by replacing paddy. Similarly, in Kharif season-2021, the government had included oilseeds, pulses, onion, fodder and other crops under this scheme. While ‘Poplar and Safeda’ were also included in Kharif season-2022 under this scheme.
The Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Lal informed that under this scheme, financial assistance of Rs. 7,000 per acre is provided to the farmers for adopting crop diversification. This incentive amount has been transferred directly to the bank accounts of the farmers in two instalments. The first release instalment is Rs 2,000 at the time of registration on the Mera Pani-Meri Virasat portal and the second release instalment is Rs 5,000 after the crop ripens. He said that the target has been set by the state government to sow alternative crops on 2.50 lakh hectares replacing paddy area every year.
The Chief Minister further informed that 20 to 25 percent of water can be conserved by adopting DSR (Direct Seeded Rice) technology for paddy cultivation. That's why the government has made a provision to provide financial assistance of Rs 4,000 per acre for adopting DSR technology. He expressed gratitude to the farmers who saved 31,500 crore liters of water in Kharif-2022 by adopting DSR on 72,000 acres. The total amount of Rs. 29.16 crore at the rate of Rs 4,000 per acre was provided to those farmers who adopted DSR technology.
The Chief Minister said that if the farmers will adopt alternative crops replacing paddy in the blocks containing low ground water level, then 80 per cent subsidy will be offered on micro-irrigation and drip irrigation systems. He said that adopting this system can help the farmers to maintain the ground water table in some blocks of the state.
Water Conservation in agriculture
The Chief Minister said that under the 'Underground Pipeline Scheme' an amount of Rs. 10,000 per acre, upto a maximum of Rs 60,000 per farmer, is given for laying underground pipelines for irrigation. Under this scheme, an amount of Rs. 8.34 crore has been given as grant to 1957 farmers so far. The state government has also set a target to cover 2 lakh acres of area under sugarcane cultivation with micro-irrigation systems in the next 3 years.
Bore wells for recharging ground water
The Chief Minister informed the farmers that 'Atal Bhujal Yojana' has been started to improve groundwater in 36 identified blocks of 14 districts of the state. He said that under "Mera Pani-Meri Virasat Yojana" work is going on to raise the underground water level. For this, construction work of 1,000 water recharge bore wells is in progress in 8 dark zone declared sections of the state.
Similarly, 86 rain water harvesting structures have been built in the state. Water is being released for recharging in Krishnavati river and Masani barrage.
Calling upon the farmers to conserve maximum water, the Chief Minister said 'Jal Hi Jeevan Hai'. Survival on earth is possible due to the presence of water, he added.
On this occasion, Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. D. S Dhesi, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V. Umashankar, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Smt. Sumita Misra, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and Director General of Information, Public Relations, Languages and Culture, Dr. Amit Agrawal, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. K.Makarand Pandurang, Political Advisor to Chief Minister, Sh. Bharat Bhushan Bharti, Joint Director (Admin), Information, Public Relations, Languages and Culture Department, Sh. Gaurav Gupta were also present.