Rana Gurjeet Singh asks officials of irrigation department to expedite implementation of important projects

Chandigarh, December 22, 2017: Presiding over a high level meeting with the Chief Engineers of various wings of Irrigation Department, Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjeet Singh asked the officials to expedite the various important projects being executed in the state to ensure that these projects should be completed and dedicated to the people of the state in time bound manner.
In a review meeting held here at Irrigation Bhawan, Rana Gurjeet Singh said that he has noticed that the cleanliness process of 8000 km long drains in the state is not up to mark. He instructed the officials to expedite the cleanliness of all the drains and sought report on the current situation of all these drains within a week. The Minister directed the Chief Engineer, Drainage to improvise on the existing Hydraulic excavators to execute the work of cleaning of drains and removal of water hyacinth in a speedy and more cost effective manner.
Principal Secretary of Water Resources Jaspal Singh assured the Minister that the cleaning of all those drains which could be cleaned under NREGA would be done on priority. Apart from this, Mr. Jaspal Singh discussed the project of computerization of Irrigation department's record and work process with Irrigation Minister who asked him to convert this proposal in reality soon. The Irrigation Minister also asked Mr. Jaspal Singh to plan a tourism project in consultation with his counterpart in tourism department to promote the tourism on the banks of Rajasthan Feeder and Sirhind Feeder canals, where water and adventure sports can be developed.
Rana Gurjeet Singh also directed the Department to execute the work of bridges on the Indira Gandhi Canal (Rajasthan Feeder) as per the provisions of The National Waterways Act, 2016.
On this occasion, Chief Engineers of different wings of Irrigation department apprised the Irrigation Minister regarding the current status of various development projects. Rana Gurjeet Singh was informed that the project of relining of Rajasthan feeder and Sirhind feeder would be initiated in March 2018 at Rs 1512 crore, which would be completed in next 3 years.
The Irrigation Minister was informed that the Shahpur Kandi Barrage Project would be started soon. Similarly, a loan of Rs. 140 crores has been sought from NABARD so that the remaining work of Bist Doab Project can be completed by the year 2018-19. The work on Banuar Canal project announced by the Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh has also been expedited.
In addition to this, a new project namely, Incentivisation Scheme for Bridging Irrigation Gap (ISBIG) with a total cost of about Rs 8000 Crore is being taken up in the state in the near future for promoting micro Irrigation in the State, lining of the water courses and for correction of system deficiencies in the canal systems. Kandi Canal Project on which the state has already spent about Rs. 600 Crore has been planned to be completed during next financial year with additional cost of Rs. 60 Crore to provide Irrigation water to the entire planned area of 23000 Hactares.
The Irrigation Minister also sought advice from the department officials so that the performance of the department could be improved and the maximum benefit of the pro-people schemes could be made available to the people of the state.