Punjab CM says Telangana irrigation system will be replicated in Punjab

He noted that farmers elsewhere in the country were struggling every day because of the Centre's policies

Siddipet: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, who is on a two-day visit of the State, said Telangana’s canal-based irrigation system that efficiently uses river water, would be replicated in Punjab as part of his government’s efforts to check the depleting groundwater table.

Speaking to news reporters on the sidelines of his visit to different places in Gajwel Assembly Constituency on Thursday, Mann appreciated the Telangana government’s work in efficient use of water by taking up the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS). Analysing the Telangana model of water conservation, he said it was a revolutionary model aimed at recharging the water table holistically.

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Stating that the need of the hour was to channelise canal water in Punjab, he said the motive of examining the Telangana model was to check the depletion of groundwater level for the sake of future generations. Taking an insightful view of techniques of saving rapidly decreasing groundwater during his visit, Mann lauded Telangana’s unique way to save the water on one hand and to increase the level of groundwater on the other.

Lamenting that due to over exploitation of groundwater in Punjab, the water table is swiftly depleting, he said more than 78 per cent of Punjab’s 150 blocks were in extreme dark zones due to depletion of the groundwater table.

Earlier, he visited the Konda Pochamma Sagar, built as part of KLIS at Markook, where Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) Rajat Kumar explained about the reservoir that was built at a height of 618 metres from sea level. He also briefed Mann on the KLIS, after which the Punjab Chief Minister examined the motors used for the lift irrigation project. He visited a check-dam built across the Kudavelly Vagu near Erravally village in Markook and the Pandavula Cheruvu, which has been developed into a mini tank bund after restoration.

Interacting with farmers at Pandavula Cheruvu, Mann enquired how their lives had changed post the formation of Telangana. The farmers replied that their income had increased considerably since they were getting irrigation water. The groundwater table too had improved considerably since the government built a number of reservoirs across the State, they told him.

He noted that farmers elsewhere in the country were struggling every day because of the Centre’s policies and said farmers were regularly staging protests at the Jantar Mantar because they could not get remunerative prices for their products. This was a sad reality considering 80 percent of the Indian population were still depending on agriculture, he said.