Capt’s nod to groundwater authority

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 18

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday initiated the process of implementation of the Centre’s Incentivisation Scheme for Bridging Irrigation Gap (ISBIG).

He gave in-principle approval to the establishment of a groundwater authority to tackle the state’s groundwater crisis.

Chairing a high-level meeting to review the groundwater situation and discuss the implementation of the central scheme, the CM gave his concurrence to the state’s share of 40 per cent, amounting to Rs 3,448 crore against the total project cost of Rs 8,658 crore for Punjab.

The scheme -- aimed at bridging the gap between Irrigation Potential Created (IPC) and Irrigation Potential Utilised (IPU) in India's completed water resources projects -- will provide better irrigation facilities to 1,249.257 lakh hectares of 12 canal commands falling in 21 districts of Punjab and benefitting nearly three lakh farming families.

Punjab has the highest water exploitation rate and the maximum percentage of dark zones in the country. With almost the entire wetland area in the state having been destroyed in the past two decades, Punjab has one of the highest rates of decline in the water level.

The state’s water table is declining at an average rate of 1.6 ft/annum. The number of tubewells in the state has increased from 2 lakh in 1970-71 to 14.5 lakh in 2015-16.