Water conservation, management projects in Haryana with Israel on cards

Chandigarh, July 27

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said Haryana and Israel were looking forward to work on various water conservation and management projects.

The Chief Minister said this during a meeting with a delegation of Israel regarding water conservation and management here yesterday.

The Chief Minister said at a time when the water level was depleting in some areas of the state, the state government was constantly working to improve the water table. For this, the Haryana Government has constituted the Haryana Water Resources (Conservation, Regulation and Management) Authority, under which the state government is working to renovate 18,000 ponds of the state.

The Chief Minister said both Israel and Haryana understand the challenges of water conservation and should work together in seeking out ways to conserve water resources and manage these. Israel is already cooperating with Haryana in the field of agriculture and horticulture.

Four centres of excellence for Indo-Israel cooperation are running in Haryana and the fifth centre is being built in Bhiwani. Similarly, some private companies of India are working in Israel in drip irrigation, he added.

Khattar directed the Irrigation and Water Resources Department to constitute a task force so that work regarding water management resources could be done with the cooperation of Israel. He said both Haryana and Israel should also come forward to explore new technology, innovations and challenges. The Chief Minister urged the Israeli delegation to bring projects which could ensure the best use of water resources and preserve soil fertility even in water shortage.