Special Achievements Achieved by the Water Resources Department in Irrigation

• 07 Jan 2023

Why In News?

On January 6, 2023, The Madhya Pradesh Water Resources Department released the details of several achievements achieved in the field of irrigation over the years.

Key Points

• Speaking on the occasion, Madhya Pradesh Water Resources Minister Tulshiram Silawat said that irrigation potential has increased by 3 lakh 48 thousand hectare area in the last two years.
• At present, 37 lakh 7 thousand hectare irrigation potential has been developed by the department. Under the command of Tawa project, farmers are getting irrigation facility in 89 thousand hectare area for Zaid crop
• In the year 2020-21 and 2021-22, revenue of Rs 840.3 crore has been recovered. In 2022-23 till September, Rs 266.11 crore revenue has been collected.
• The department has developed one lakh 16 thousand hectare irrigation potential against the target of developing one lakh 15 thousand hectare irrigation potential in the year 2020-21. At the same time, new irrigation potential has been developed in one lakh 71 thousand hectare area against the target of one lakh 70 thousand hectares in 2021-22. The target of increasing the total irrigation potential to 40 lakh hectares will be completed by December 31, 2023.
• A total of 126 new major, medium and minor irrigation projects have been started by the department in Madhya Pradesh in the last two years. These include four major, 10 medium and 112 small projects. The cost of all these 126 irrigation projects is Rs 6,700 crore. These new irrigation projects will develop irrigation potential of 3 lakh 34 thousand hectares.
• In Madhya Pradesh, work on the much-awaited Ken-Betwa Link National Project will be started soon. The Rs 44,605-crore national project will provide irrigation facilities in 8.11 lakh hectare area of drought-hit Bundelkhand region of the state. Also, there will be easy supply of drinking water to about 41 lakh population.
• The project will generate 103 MW of power, which will be fully utilized by Madhya Pradesh. The Ken-Betwa link project will benefit 2040 villages of 28 tehsils of 10 districts of the state.
• Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal) has been launched with the objective of increasing the ground water level, removing the drinking water crisis and providing irrigation facilities in Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. In this project costing about Rs 314.54 crore, works are being done for water conservation and improvement of ground water level in 678 villages of 9 development blocks of 6 districts of the state with public participation.
• The Rs 6,601 crore 'Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia New Multi-Purpose Irrigation Project' is being launched for irrigation and drinking water supply in Gwalior and Chambal regions of Madhya Pradesh. With this project, irrigation facility will be provided in 2 lakh hectare area in Guna, Shivpuri and Sheopur districts of the state and 6 reservoirs will be constructed. Also, irrigation, drinking water, fisheries, tourism and employment opportunities will increase. The ground water level of the area will also increase.
• Significantly, Madhya Pradesh is the leading state in the country to formulate schemes based on micro irrigation system. Modern pressurized pipe based micro irrigation system is being used in 55 large and medium irrigation projects currently under construction of the department.
• Madhya Pradesh is the leading state in the country to constitute an expert committee to implement the provisions of the Dam Safety Act-2021 by the Water Resources Department. A 'Dam Safety Review Panel' has been formed in Madhya Pradesh. In the last 5 years, 25 dams have been repaired at a cost of Rs 148 crore. In the next five years, 27 dams will be protected and repaired. For this, Rs 551 crore has been approved in collaboration with the World Bank.