Punjab Irrigation Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon today said that by opposing the rejuvenation, brick lining and dredging of canals, the Congress party has exposed its anti-farmer face. Sharanjit Singh Dhillon stated that the existing irrigation network is in the process of getting rejuvenated so that a majority of the farmers at the tail end could be benefited by providing them irrigation water and it would also help save a large quantity of water being wasted due to seepage and excessive silting in rivers, canals, distributaries and water courses.Dhillon informed that Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal has already urged Union Minister for Water Resources to personally intervene and expeditiously clear projects worth Rs 4,126 crore for rehabilitation, extension, renovation and modernisation of the canal network in Punjab, which had already been sent for technical clearance to the Central Water Commission (CWC).
The Irrigation Minister said that the water carrying capacity of the existing century-old canal network in the state has reduced by 25 per cent and is being revamped as 28 per cent area of total agricultural land in the state is dependent on canal water for irrigation purposes.Taking an aim at the Congress party, the Irrigation Minister said that under the 67 year of Congress rule in the country, they did not take keen interest in therehabilitation, extension, renovation and modernisation of the canal network in the state and that when the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janta Party government is working in this direction, some Congress leaders are opposing it just for the sake of opposition.The Minister said that the Bhakra Main Canal (BML) is a Interstate Canal and supply fixed share of water to partner states Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Besides, it supplies drinking water to Chandigarh and Delhi.
The carrying capacity of the BML is 12455 Cs and Punjab government is duty bound to ensure that not a single drop of extra water does not flow towards other states. This BML Canal is running continuously since its construction. With the passage of time, the carrying capacity of the Canal gets reduced due to debris, silting and wear and tear of the lining. It resulted in short supplies to all the partner States including Punjab. To overcome this problem, Central Water Commission held a meeting during 1982 and it was decided to restore the capacity of Bhakra Main Line to its original designed capacity by raising the banks of BML Canal.Sharanjit Singh Dhillon said that the present work of BML Canal in this portion is a routine repair work and is merely restoration of the already raised canal banks, based on the approved L- section of 1985 and 2001, and Barwala Link Channel will be able to get only 1450 cusecs of water, which is within their already allocated share. No new work is being carried out to enhance the capacity of the Canal.
He said that the present work is entirely a routine maintenance work, so that partner State including Punjab will be able to get their allocated share of water (as Punjab draws water from Bhakra Main Branch in Sardulgarh area) as per the decision taken by BBMB. It is the responsibility of the State of Punjab to maintain the Canal network falling in the jurisdiction of the State and to ensure supply of water to partner State as per their allocated share.It is worth mentioning here that the allocation of water to all the partner States is fixed by BBMB in its monthly meeting, in which representatives of all partner states participate; strictly on the basis of share of the partner States. The water is release to partner States based on the decision taken by the BBMB.Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon said that it is wrong to say that Haryana will start getting more water after completion of the present repair work. The water to Haryana is measured and controlled at a point near Khanauri in Punjab (measured jointly by Punjab and Haryana) at RD 390000, which is much upstream the said site where repair is taking place. So there is no question that repair of this portion will cater more water to Haryana.The Irrigation Minister said that not even a single drop of extra water will be supplied to Haryana or any other state. He urged the residents to ignore false and misleading statements issued by some Congress leaders.