The Uttarakhand government’s plan to launch a scheme to irrigate vast areas of Haridwar district has hit a roadblock, as neighbouring Uttar Pradesh has refused to use the required 600 cusecs of water from the main Ganga canal.
The aim behind the Iqbalpur irrigation project is to irrigate nearly 24,000 hectares of land in areas of southwestern Uttarakhand including Bhagwanpur, Bhaderabad and Roorkee. The Rs 193-crore project was sent for technical appraisal to Central Water Commission, which in turn sought an NOC from Uttar Pradesh which retains control over canals, reservoirs and dams in Uttarakhand. The irrigation department in Lucknow did not issue the NOC, following which the project is now hanging fire.
“Till we get the NOC, we cannot proceed,” said a top government official. He admitted that the state government was finding it tough to conceive new irrigation schemes since the control of its water-bodies and canals wrests with Uttar Pradesh. The issue has triggered a dispute, which is pending before the Supreme Court.
Besides Iqbalpur, a host of schemes is in a limbo as the Uttar Pradesh government has refused to hand over the control of water to the hill state.
Two years ago, the Uttarkhand High Court had issued a verdict letting the hill state to be handed over the control of 41 canals, reservoirs and dams. Uttar Pradesh challenged the July 30, 2009 verdict in the Supreme Court. The case is on.
