Chandigarh, Jan 24 – Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that this year emphasis has been laid on implementation of more schemes to re-use rain water. Along with dealing with the flood situation, this water can be used properly in ground water recharging and dry areas. For this, 320 new schemes have been approved under the Drought Relief and Flood Control Board, under which an amount of about Rs 494 crore will be spent. The Chief Minister was presiding over the 53rd meeting of the Haryana State Drought Relief and Flood Control Board on Monday. During this, Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala and Agriculture Minister, Sh. JP Dalal were also present.
The Chief Minister said that in the previous years, the meeting of the Flood Control and Drought Relief Board was held during the month of May. The present government has decided to hold this meeting twice in a year, in the month of January and May, so that the work done can be reviewed before the rains during the month of May. He said that schemes worth Rs 221 crore have been prepared for the drainage and reuse of stagnant water in the fields.
The Chief Minister said that the benefits of the schemes implemented by the government last year have now been seen in the Yamuna area. For the first time during the rainy days, the flood water did not fill the area of Yamuna. He said that compensation of Rs 650 crore has to be given in districts like Bhiwani, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Hisar and Sonipat for damage to crops due to water logging. Keeping this in mind, now special plans are being made for those areas where there is problem of water logging every year. Apart from this, two projects of Rs 45 crore of Public Health Department have also been approved to make Ambala and Barwala cities free from water logging.
Water logging will be eliminated from 1 lakh acres of land- Chief Minister
Sh. Manohar Lal said that this year the government has set a target to eliminate the problem of water logging from 1 lakh acres of land. For this, the affected farmers will have to register on the portal. Farmers will have to pay only 20 percent of the expenditure; the remaining 80 percent will be spent by the government.
Ponds will be cleaned across the state
The Chief Minister said that due to the continuous filling of the ponds, the recharging of water gets reduced. In such a situation, the ponds should be completely emptied once in a year and they should also be cleaned. For this, a big plan is being prepared by the Panchayat Department, under which the work of emptying and desilting the ponds will be done. If the ponds are clean, then recharging of water will also take place and there will be no problem of water logging in the villages when it rains.
The maximum expenditure for water reuse will be Rs 144 crore
The Chief Minister said that in the 53rd meeting, about Rs 494 crore has been approved for different categories. In this, about Rs 144 crore will be spent on 80 schemes for re-use of rain water. Along with this, Rs 58.92 crore on 46 schemes of population protection category, Rs 79.21 crore on 66 schemes in Protection of Agriculture Land category, Rs 32.36 crore on 45 schemes in Dewatering Machinery category, Rs 32.77 crore on 20 schemes of Reclamation of Land category have been approved. Similarly, under Atal Bhujal Yojana, Rs 77.05 crore will be spent on 26 schemes and Rs 69.55 crore will be spent on 37 schemes of Reconstruction, Renovation of Structure.
Haryana will leave its mark on the national level in sports
Responding to a query from mediapersons after the meeting, the Chief Minister said that it is a matter of great happiness for the state that after 5 years, the tableau of Haryana will be a part of the Republic Day celebrations to be held on January 26 this year. The most important thing is that the theme of this tableau is based on the sports of Haryana. The sportspersons of Haryana have performed well in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Haryana is the hub of sports, this will be displayed in this tableau.
Suggestions being sought from MPs and MLAs before the budget
Responding to a question, the Chief Minister said that the Union Budget is going to be presented in a few days. Sh. Manohar Lal had given some of his suggestions in the pre-budget meeting called by the Union Finance Minister. Since most of the area of the state is in NCR, the state has demanded for Rs 5,000 crore. Along with this, preparation of budget is being done in Haryana. For this, suggestions are being sought from MPs and MLAs. These suggestions will be included in the pre-budget meeting of Haryana.
Haryana Chief Secretary, Sh. Sanjeev Kaushal, Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. DS Dhesi, Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Haryana, and Financial Commissioner, Revenue & Disaster Management and Consolidation Departments, Sh. PK Das, Additional Chief Secretary Finance and Planning Departments, Sh. TVSN Prasad, Principal Secretary, Public Health Engineering Department, Sh. Apoorva Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V Umashankar, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Dr. Amit Agrawal, Additional Chief Secretary, Irrigation and Water Resources Department, Sh. Devender Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Development & Panchayats Department, Sh. Amit Jha, Divisional Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners of all the districts virtually joined the meeting.