Meeting reviews 11 projects to check water table depletion in Amritsar

Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney held a meeting with officials of the district administration regarding the launch of 11 projects by the Soil and Water Conservation Department under Punjab government. The department has prepared a proposal to cover about 365 hectares of area in Amritsar district through 11 projects for irrigation from moghas (canal connection) to check the declining water table. Divisional Soil Conservation Officer, Amritsar, Ravinder Singh, Sub-Divisional Officer, Canal Department, Jaskaran Singh and PD Harnek Singh from the Agriculture Department were part of the meeting held today as the administration prepares a preventive as well as counter-active plan for groundwater conservation.

Sharing details of the meeting, Divisional Soil Conservation Officer Ravinder Singh said that a total of 11 projects will provide water for irrigation from moghas in 11 villages: Kohala, Waryam Nangal, Gunnowal, Kawe Lelian, Bua Nangal, Pathan Nangal, Kandowali, Gujjarpura, Sehnewali, Kathunangal and Kumaska, on which the government will spend Rs 1 crore 88 lakh.

“The objective is to provide water for agriculture to 178 beneficiaries so that the groundwater level can be saved from falling and the yield of farmers’ crops can also be increased. Drawing of groundwater needs to be checked to prevent the water level from falling further from the already critical stage,” he said.

The Divisional Soil Conservation Officer said that taking the indiscriminate use of groundwater seriously, the government has started supplying canal water to the tail-end villages of Punjab. He said that due to the groundwater getting depleted further, a dangerous situation has arisen in many areas. To address this threat, canal water is being pumped to farms to reduce dependence on groundwater.

After a recent revelation by the Annual Ground Water Quality Report-2024, in a report released by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), citing severe groundwater exploitation and overdrawing of groundwater in certain blocks, the district administration has resolved to act in time to contain the situation.