Chandigarh, June 18: Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Sh. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, while lauding the efforts of the Haryana Government for swiftly moving forward to achieve the target of providing piped drinking water to all rural households in the State, under the ambitious 'Jal Jeevan Mission' (JJM) said that an amount of Rs 1119.95 crore has been approved by Central Government for Haryana. It is pertinent to mention that Haryana is among the first three states of the country in the successful implementation of 'Jal Jeevan Mission.
Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said this while addressing the media persons after the meeting held with Sh. Gajendra Singh today at his residence in New Delhi. The Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Sh. Rattan Lal Kataria was also present in this meeting.
The Chief Minister said that detailed discussions were held on various water related issues of Haryana. Besides this, an in-depth discussion with the Union Jal Shakti Minister was held regarding the implementation of schemes and water requirements of the state, he added.
Answering a question asked by the media regarding SYL, the Chief Minister said that a meeting which Punjab’s Chief Minister had scheduled regarding the construction of Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal (SYL) has not been held yet. In this direction, a letter will be written by the Sh. Gajendra Singh to Punjab Chief Minister.
Sh. Manohar Lal informed the media that after the release of Central Soil Research Station’s report, the Central Water Commission will prepare the design of Adi Badri Dam and Somvati Barrage to be built on Saraswati river within a period of 15 days. The Center has assured to provide Rs 500 crore for the development of Saraswati under the National River Conservation Scheme, he added.
To provide drinking water at the rate of 130 liters instead of 55 liters and to provide sewerage facility in 130 villages coming under Mahagram scheme, Haryana has requested the Centre Government to allocate an amount of Rs. 3250 crore so that an amount of Rs. 25 crore can be spent for each Mahagram in Haryana.
The Chief Minister informed that under the 'Nal Se Jal' scheme, eight districts of Haryana have been completely covered and soon Haryana will be the first state in the country to cover all the districts under this scheme.
He said that under 'Atal Bhujal Yojana', piezometers would be installed in 1669 villages of Haryana to record the level of groundwater and plans for better utilization of water would be prepared.
Haryana has also proposed the Center to set up a model water body in an area of 15 acres for greywater management in one of the villages of either in Baland village of Rohtak district and Dubheta village of Sonipat district. The latest technologies will be used in this model water body, he added.
The Chief Minister said that under 'Mera Pani Meri Virasat' scheme, this year a target of cultivating crops other than paddy in a total area of two lakh acres has been set.
He said that under this scheme, last year, alternate crops having less water requirement were cultivated in an area of 94,000 acres and an incentive amount of Rs 7,000 per acre is given to the farmers.
The Chief Minister said that the National Institute of Hydrology had recommended releasing some additional water in the Yamuna. But the situation is that given the irrigation and drinking water requirements of Haryana, the State itself is facing water shortage.
Haryana is not able to discharge more water in the Yamuna. After the completion of Renuka, Kishau and Lakhwad dam projects on the upper Yamuna basin, the water situation will be assessed again and will be considered according to the situation, said the Chief Minister.