Chandigarh, June 9 - Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal said, “If we want to gift water to the future generations as an inheritance, then we will have to take the necessary measures now.”
He said that serious efforts are being made by State Government for water conservation and for this many effective schemes have been implemented. The objective of 'Mera Pani Meri Virasat' scheme is to motivate farmers to plant alternative crops instead of paddy so that they can make their valuable contributions towards the government's water conservation campaign.
The Chief Minister was interacting with the farmers’ of Sirsa block regarding 'Mera Pani-Meri Virasat scheme'. During the interaction, all wore masks and adhered to social distancing norms. The Chief Minister also answered the queries of farmers regarding this scheme and welcomed the valuable suggestions shared by the farmers.
The Chief Minister said, “The intention of the government is not to impose the scheme on the farmers, but to save depleting levels of underground water. In areas where the ground water level has gone below 40 meters, the farmers of those areas have been appealed not to plant paddy, so that water crisis does not arise in future and the farmers’ lands remains fertile.”
He shared that so far, under this scheme, farmers have agreed to adopt crop diversification in 55,000 hectare area and farmers are actively joining the water conservation campaign.
He said that so far under the 'Mera Pani-Meri Virasat Scheme' in Sirsa district, 5573 farmers have agreed to grow alternative crops. Farmers can adopt any crop or horticulture in place of paddy. “For this, the government is giving an incentive amount of Rs. 7,000 per acre, of which Rs 2,000 would be given to the farmer at the time of registration and the remaining Rs. 5,000 would be given when the crop is ready,” he informed.
Besides this, he also urged the farmers to use drip irrigation system under the Water Conservation campaign. He said that the famers would get 85 percent subsidy for adopting drip irrigation.
During the interaction, Neki Ram a farmer of Handi khera village in the district described the ‘Mera Pani-Mere Virasat Scheme as an effective scheme and suggested that serious effort should be made on the recharge method to bring the ground water level up and save water, so that there should be no water crisis in future. The Chief Minister praised his suggestion. Other farmers also shared their suggestions regarding water conservation. The Chief Minister assured the farmers that their suggestions will be incorporated in future.
He directed the Deputy Director, Agriculture, Horticulture Officer and other officers concerned to develop a demonstration Park in flood affected (Dakar) areas, prevent canal water theft, ensure equitable distribution of water and encourage more and more farmers regarding the scheme.
The Chief Minister said that in the fight against Corona, the administration as well as social organizations while remaining on front line has played an important role, because of which the present COVID-19 situation in the State is under control to a large extent. He said that this battle of Corona has to be fought and conquered together. Just as citizens have shown patience and given their cooperation in all phases of lockdown, similarly during ‘Unlock-1’ while adhering to the social distancing norms we have to make State and Country Corona free.