Lingering for 13 years, Phina canal project now under central scheme

Lalit Mohan

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Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, August 17

There is a ray of hope for the much-delayed Phina Singh canal project being constructed in Nurpur of Kangra district at a cost of Rs 643 crore. The Union Government has included the project that has been lingering for the past 13 years under the Pradhan Mantri Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) — Accelerated Irrigation benefit Programme. The state government received a letter in this regard yesterday, sources said.

The Union Ministry of Water Resources has asked the state government to take up the project, as per the guidelines of the PMKSY programme.

Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri told The Tribune that the state government had received the letter from the Union Ministry of Water Resources regarding the inclusion of the Phina Singh canal project under the PMKSY programme. He added that the state government had already spent its share of about Rs 300 crore on the project and was awaiting the Central assistance to complete it. “I had taken up the issue of the canal project with the Union Minister for Water Resources during my recent visit to New Delhi,” he claimed.

The Phina Singh canal project under construction in Nurpur of Kangra district has been lingering for the past more than 13 years and its cost has escalated from initial Rs 204 crore to Rs 643 crore.

The project was envisaged in 2011 for interlinking the Kalam Nullah and the Chakki river, two tributaries of the Beas flowing through Nurpur, and the construction of a concrete gravity dam on the Chakki. The dam water was to be carried through a 4.30-km tunnel to irrigate 4,025 hectares in 60 villages of Nurpur.

Initially, the project cost was estimated at Rs 204 crore and already Rs 283.32 crore has been spent on it but only 53 per cent progress has been made. The project has not received any funds from the Union Government in the past few years. Last year, the state Irrigation Department had sent a revised detailed project report (DPR) to the Union Government regarding the project. The revised DPR had a provision for the construction of a hydroelectric project of 1.88 MW capacity on the canal project.