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Irrigation Projects
Indu Devi, a 35-year-old widow from Suryahi village, knows the weight of despair all too well. When her husband was hanged over a land dispute, she was left with little more than a small patch of land and debts. But then, she heard about the concept of using solar pumps in fields for business. Despite her initial fears of how would she, a woman with no technical knowledge, operate a pump? She took the leap of faith. Today, she earns a steady income by supplying water to neighbouring fields. "It's just a switch on and off. But it has given me a way to survive," she said. In this area, Indu's story is inspirational but not unique. A number of women, as part of self-help groups (SHGs), have invested in solar pumps on their land for irrigation, transforming their lives and livelihoods. For decades, irrigation has been a major challenge in Bihar. With erratic rainfall, extreme summers amid climate change and unreliable electricity, farmers have struggled to grow crops. Diesel pumps we
The cost of 20 irrigation projects commenced between 1983 and 2018 in Telangana doubled from over Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore as on March 2023, due to non-completion, the CAG report has said. According to the report (for 2022-23) by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which was placed in the state legislature on Friday, non-completion of projects deprives the state of the intended benefits of economic growth and there was no assurance on returns from the investments in irrigation and flood control as the state government did not disclose financial results of any of the irrigation projects. "There were 20 incomplete irrigation projects (commenced between 1983 and 2018) to be completed by the year 2023. The original cost of these projects has increased from Rs 1,02,388 crore to Rs 2,06,977 crore i.e., an escalation by Rs 1,04,589 crore (102 per cent)," the auditing watchdog said. An expenditure of Rs 1,73,564 crore was incurred on these projects as of March 2023. In ...
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday directed the officers of the Water Resources department for timely completion of the ongoing irrigation projects. Holding a meeting with the top officers of the department, the chief minister also directed them to manage water efficiently during the delayed monsoon period. He advised the officials to be in a state of preparedness for managing possible flood situation during the ensuing monsoon, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement. Stressing that the improvement of the status of the farmers of the state is a top priority of his government, Majhi said that the Water Resources department has a key role to play in making water available to farmers, it said. He further exhorted all the officers of the department to work with utmost sincerity, transparency and dedication to ensure greater benefit for farmers. Development Commissioner Anu Garg, who is also the additional chief secretary (ACS) of the Water Resources ...
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday visited the Polavaram Project to review works and the project status. This is the first time the chief minister is visiting the site after assuming the office for the fourth term. Naidu landed at the Polavaram Project at 12 pm and was accompanied by Water Resources Minister N Ramanaidu and others. The chief minister inspected the project works and officials explained to him in detail. Following his inspection, the CM is expected to hold an hour-long meeting on the project's progress. Polavaram Project is on the river Godavari near Ramayyapeta village in Polavaram Mandalam of Eluru district, located about 34 km upstream of Kovvuru-Rajahmundry road-cum-rail bridge. It emerges from the last ranges of the Eastern Ghats and enters the plains in the Godavari region. According to the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA), the multi-purpose irrigation project is intended to irrigate over 4.3 lakh hectares of land and generate 960 MW
TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday alleged that YSRCP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has completely destroyed the irrigation sector in the Rayalaseema region of the state. Naidu alleged that water was not supplied to even a single acre in the past five years and claimed that Reddy encouraged the free flow of spurious liquor, ganja (marijuana) and other drugs in every village of Rayalaseema. My vision is to create assets and increase the revenue of everyone in the state while Jagan always works to loot the people only to fill his own pockets," he said at a public meeting named Prajagalam in Palamaneru. Further, Naidu noted that the time has come to put an end to the alleged wicked and cruel force of the YSRCP, claiming that everybody, including farmers who are "not getting even the subsidies and minimum support price for any farm product", is ready to defeat the ruling party. Assuring various facilities to different sections of the society,
The Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday approved irrigation projects worth Rs 10,373 crore which would benefit the districts of Mandsaur, Rajgarh, Sidhi, Seoni and Balaghat, an official said. The projects which received approval included Takhaji Micro Lift Irrigation Project (Rs 60.3 crore) in Mandsaur district, Mohanpura Major Irrigation Project (Rs 4,666.66 crore) in Rajgarh, Sitapur Hanuman Micro Irrigation Project (Rs 4,167.93 crore) in Sidhi, and Sanjay Sarovar canal extension (Rs 332.54 crore) work in Seoni and Balaghat districts. A proposal to start air services from various cities in the state on a Public, Private, Partnership (PPP) mode was also approved at the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, the official said. To curb emission of greenhouse gases, the government decided to introduce 'Pradhanmantri e-Bus service' in Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain and Sagar cities. As many as 552 e-buses will be operated on PPP model in these cities, the ...
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday laid the foundation stone of a Rs 484-crore mega lift irrigation project aimed at encouraging farming in the state. The project, expected to be completed in two-and-half years, would benefit around 1.11 lakh farmers across three assembly constituencies - Sarath, Madhupur and Jamtara, he said. Our government is committed to increase farmers' income. This project will encourage farming with robust irrigation facility, Soren said. It is the second such mega project to come up in Jharkhand, after the Masaliya' in Dumka. Similar lift irrigation initiatives will also be taken in Palamu, Giridih and Jamshedpur districts. I believe Jharkhand can progress only when its rural economy and farmers are strengthened, the chief minister said. Kisan Pathshalas' are being opened in every district, where farmers would be taught about new techniques of farming, he added. The project would help irrigate 13,164 hectares of land, and benefit 1.11 lakh fa
The government is looking at promoting cactus plantations in low-irrigation areas to rejuvenate degraded land, enhance livelihood as well as explore the scope of biofuel production, Union Minister Giriraj Singh has said. The minister for rural development also told PTI that a pilot project for planting spineless cactus is being implemented at present around the ISKCON cowshed in Rajasthan's Hingonia, where the biomass of cacti will be used to produce biogas at a nearby Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plant. India has around 30 per cent of its geographical area under the category of degraded land, according to government data. "We have been focusing on treating degraded land, and cactus is a plant that can grow with very little irrigation. It is also known for sinking carbon in the ground, and is an energy plant which can be used for producing methane...," he said. "We are, therefore, planning to introduce cactus plantations in such areas, a pilot project for which has been started (in ...
There has been an increase of about 1.42 million micro irrigation schemes between 2013-14 and 2017-18, according to latest official census data released on Saturday. The sixth census of minor irrigation (MI) schemes showed that the number of both groundwater and surface water schemes have increased at the national level. Out of 23.14 million MI schemes examined, 21.93 million (94.8 per cent) constitute groundwater schemes, while 1.21 million (5.2 per cent) are classified as Surface Water Schemes. This underscores the substantial reliance on groundwater resources for irrigation needs. There has been a delay in release of the 6th census due to COVID-19 and work on the 7th census has already been started, a senior official said. The census data revealed that Uttar Pradesh claims the largest share of MI schemes, closely trailed by Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. Defined as structures within either groundwater or surface water categories with a Culturable Command Area (C