NEW DELHI: The Government has prepared a draft irrigation management policy to make the irrigation systems function at its optimal efficiency.
Addressing the 10th conference of the State irrigation ministers, the Minister of Water Resources, V.C. Shukla, said the government has almost finalized inter-state agreements for allocation and development of Yamuna waters. Though the projected demands of the concerned state governments may not be met due to shortage of flows, full justice would be done to the people of the Yamuna basin in the proposed agreements, Shukla emphasized.
Bhajan Lal said that about 99% work on the Sutlej Yamuna link canal had been completed on the Punjab side and the remaining should also be done, Haryana was being deprived of valuable water due to incompletion of canal.
The conference discussed issues like financing of irrigation projects, provision of water supply from immigration projects, rehabilitation measures for oustees from reservoir projects and other related matters.
Union Agriculture Minister, Balram Jakhar, stressed that new areas and ways should be found to utilize available resources to meet growing needs of fast increasing population.
The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Pranab Mukherjee, expressed serious concern at the cost and time overrun of ongoing projects, and suggested that efforts should be made to find out shorten strategies for harassing the minor irrigation resources.
Punjab should be provided its “legitimate share” of unutilized water emanating from all rivers which were in Punjab at the time of its division in 1966, the state Irrigation and Power Minister, Harcharan Singh Brar, said here on Sept.21.
He suggested that deciding priority for projects should be left within the individual states’ domain and added that inter-state projects should be given separate priority.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 2, 1992
