Haryana plans to cut water deficit by 50% in 2 years

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 9

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today launched the biennial Integrated Water Resources Action Plan (2023-25), under which four major departments have a target of reducing water deficit by 50 per cent in two years. “The plan aims to meet the twin challenges of water depletion and waterlogging,” said Khattar.

WATER RESOURCES ACTION PLAN LAUNCHED

Total availability 21 lakh crore litres

Water demand 35 lakh crore litres

Water deficit 14 lakh crore litres

Holding a press conference, Khattar said the total water availability of the state was 20,93,598 crore litres, whereas the total water demand is 34,96,276 crore litres, making a water deficit of 14 lakh crore litres.

“All water-related departments have come forward and taken the responsibility to conserve water through various demand and supply side interventions. This would save around 6.97 lakh crore litres (49.7 per cent of water deficit) of water in the next two years,” the CM added.

The Chief Minister said the maximum amount of water was used in agriculture and horticulture sectors.

Dams to ensure regulation

Three dams — Renuka, Lakwar and Kishau — werw being built so as to ensure the regulation of water. With the construction of these dams, the water needs of the state would certainly be addressed, said the Chief Minister

As per the plan, 3.14 lakh acres of land would be covered under crop diversification, saving 1.05 lakh crore litres (7.6 per cent) of water. Direct seeding of paddy would be done on 4.75 lakh acres and save 1.18 lakh crore litres (8.4 per cent) of water. Also, 27.53 lakh acres will be brought under conservation tillage to save 0.51 lakh crore litres (3.7 per cent).

Further, 0.47 lakh crore litres (3.4 per cent) would be saved by using high varieties of seeds on 3.49 lakh acres, 0.35 lakh crore litres (2.5 per cent) would be saved by using green manure on 9.73 lakh acres and 0.27 lakh crore litres would be saved by covering 0.43 lakh acres under natural farming.

Tapping small sources

Plans are being made to explore the utilisation of small sources of water. Dams will be constructed and plans will be formulated to ensure how this water can be utilised for local use.

Manohar Lal Khattar, chief minister

Similarly, Irrigation Department, Public Health Engineering Department, Panchayats Department (including Ponds Authority and Rural Development) and others (PWD, ULB, Forest, Education (Higher, Technical and Secondary) have also taken measures for water conservation.

The CM said ‘Reduce, Recycle and Reuse’ should be their focus as they move towards water management and conservation. He said at present, 250 cusec water was being given to Delhi as per the Supreme Court orders. In the coming times, the water need was certainly going to increase, hence dedicated efforts were being made to ensure that proper management of water with optimum use, recycling, and reuse was done, he added.

Khattar said the SYL was a pivotal issue for Haryana and Punjab. “We are hopeful that this issue will soon be resolved. Construction of SYL is not in our hands,” he added.

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