In a move to double farmers’ income and alleviate the water crisis in the state, the Yogi Adityanath government has completed and made operational 18 impending irrigation projects benefitting more than fifty lakh farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Minister of Jal Shakti Dr Mahendra Singh said.
“Nearly 18 projects, including the Saryu Canal National Project, Arjun Sahayak Canal Project, and Bansagar Project, that were pending for years, have been completed and made operational in the last four and a half years of our government. The project will facilitate the irrigation of additional 20 lakh hectares of land, benefiting more than 50 lakh farmers of the state,” the minister said.
The Saryu Canal Project was envisaged to expand irrigation capacity in Bahraich and Gonda districts in 1971-72 and construction began in 1978. When the project was launched, it was called Ghaghra Canal. However, the project’s scope was expanded in 1982-83, including nine districts of the trans-Ghaghra-Rapti-Rohini region of Purvanchal, and it was renamed to Saryu Project. The nine districts are Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur, and Maharajganj.
The previous governments have neglected and failed to allocate funds for the major agricultural project, which would have solved many of the problems faced by farmers decades ago.
Soon after assuming office in 2017, the BJP-led state government has provided sufficient funds and expedited work on the project.
“Rs 5,189 crore was spent on this project from 1978 to 2017, whereas from 2017 till now, the government has spent Rs 4,613 crore. Over 14.50 lakh hectares of land can be irrigated by this project, which will benefit about 30 lakh farmers,” said Singh.
Between 1978 and 2017, out of 23,228 pucca works, 10,365 works were completed. Around 12,863 pucca works were done in the last four and a half years of the Yogi government.
Under the ambitious Saryu canal national project, 992 canals spread over 6,623 km will be built. Between 1978 and 2017, only 290 canals spread over 2,000 km were completed. However, after the BJP government came to power, from 2017-2021, 4,623 km and 702 canals were completed and operationalised.
In a significant initiative to alleviate water crisis in Mahoba, Hamirpur and Banda district and to bring relief to the state’s farmers, the Arjuna Sahayak irrigation project worth Rs 2,655 crore was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November.
Speaking about the Arjun Sahayak project, Dr. Mahendra Singh said due to the neglect of the previous governments, the completion of the project was delayed and the project’s cost increased. From 2008 to 2017, a total of 737 hectares of land was acquired for digging the canal. While 1,673 hectares was acquired after Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister.”
Between 2009 and 2012, 41 km of the canal and only 14 km could be constructed from 2012-2017. While 189 km of the canal was built between 2017-2021, he added.
From the total allocation of Rs 2,655 crore for the project, Rs 337 crores were spent on this project from 2009 to 2012 and only Rs 553 crore was spent from 2012-2017. In comparison, the present state government has spent Rs 1,764 crore from 2017-2021 to complete the project.
The Jal Shakti Minister also informed that the canal built over a length of 244 km from the Arjun Sahayak Canal Project will provide irrigation facilities to 69,000 hectares of land and it will benefit 1.49 lakh farmers.
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