Rs 17 cr to be spent under water security plan for 27 villages of Pehowa block

Nitish Sharma

Kurukshetra, May 18

A budget of Rs 17.88 crore will be spent on different interventions, including installation of sprinklers, underground pipelines, pond restoration and recharge well, proposed to save groundwater under the water security plans prepared for 27 villages of the Pehowa block under the Atal Bhujal Yojana.

As many as 189 villages of Pehowa, Shahabad and Ladwa block of Kurukshetra were identified as dark zones and selected under the central scheme aided by the World Bank. Village-specific water security plans were to be prepared to understand the issues behind falling groundwater level and improve the situation.

As per the groundwater experts working on this project, while Rs 6.77 crore will be spent on sprinklers, Rs 1.12 crore on drip irrigation system, Rs 2.25 crore on underground pipelines, Rs 5.04 crore on restoration of 23 ponds and Rs 2.68 crore on 112 recharge wells.

Groundwater expert and hydrologist Baru Ram Sagwal said: “Water security plans of 27 villages, including Arnaicha, Batheri, Bibipur Kalan, Ishaq, Neemwala, Seonsar, Surmi, Thana, Kalsa, Satora and Murtzapur, have been approved. The interventions will help in saving groundwater and in recharging.”

Another expert Dr Naveen Nain said: “Village-specific water security plans were prepared after consulting farmers and sent to higher authorities with recommendations of different interventions to improve the situation of groundwater. A budget for 27 villages has been released for the implantation of the interventions. The implementation work will start soon.”

“While plans of 116 villages have been prepared and submitted, the remaining are to be prepared by June end. The current interventions will be implemented on the fields of the farmers who had given their consent. The water security plans will be reviewed and renewed after June and we are expecting that more farmers will approach us in the coming days. Their demands will be sent to the higher authorities so that more areas could be covered,” he added.

Groundwater conservation

• Interventions include installation of sprinklers, underground pipelines, pond restoration and recharge well, proposed to save groundwater under the water security plans
• A total of 189 villages were identified as dark zones and selected under the central scheme aided by the World Bank