Chandigarh June 9: Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal said that in the last 12 years, the ground water table level has depleted drastically in the State, which is a very matter of serious concern in many areas. The water level, he said, has gone down even below 200 feet, the situation if not controlled in time, future generations would never forgive us. “To improve the underground water level, the government has launched the ‘Mera Pani-Meri Virasat Scheme’. Under this, the farmers are encouraged to diversify their crops to alternative crops instead of growing traditional paddy,” he asserted.

The Chief Minister said this while interacting with progressive farmers under the ‘Mera Pani-Meri Virasat’ scheme in Ratia in Fatehabad today. During the interaction, the Chief Minister also sought suggestions and feedback from farmers and assured for proper consideration of these suggestions. Later the Chief Minister also interacted with the media persons.

Addressing the farmers, Chief Minister said that the government is making serious efforts to bring water in SYL canal and Hansi-Butana canal. “Besides this, plans to bring water through other sources including Lakhwar Dam in Uttarakhand and Renuka Dam Project are also in progress. However, our focus, at present is to utilize the available water judiciously so as to save water for the future generations,” he said.

He said that around 4000 to 5000 liters of water is needed for sowing one kg of paddy, which leads to heavy water consumption and water wastage. He said that this condition has aroused because the last government has not paid any attention. As a result, the water table has depleted even below 200 feet.

“In order to save the underground water level, the State Government has now targeted to grow alternative crops including maize, cotton, pulses crops, millet, and fruits-vegetables, etc. in place of paddy on one lakh hectare land,” he added.

“So far, 42,000 farmers have registered themselves for not sowing paddy on 55,000 hectares of land in the State. An amount of Rs.7000 is being given by the State Government to the farmers’ who opt for sowing alternative crops in place of paddy,” he said.

However, he urged the farmers to adopt crop diversification for the purpose of saving water for the use of next generations, not merely for getting the incentive amount.

He said that the government has increased the Minimum Support Price of maize from Rs. 1760 to Rs. 1850 per quintal, due to which farmers who sow maize would get a benefit of at least Rs 10,500 per acre.

The Chief Minister said that for harvesting the land water 100 recharge bore well would be constructed each in three blocks of the State, including Ratia, Shahabad and Guhla respectively. Through these recharge wells rainwater would be harvested into the ground. An amount of Rs. 1.5 lakh would be spent on each recharge well; the water level of about 10 acres of land can be improved from one recharge well, he added.