Rs 700-crore canal water charges yet to be recovered from users

Tribune News Service

Rajmeet Singh

Chandigarh, December 29

The irrigation branch of the Public Works Department (PWD) has failed to recover over Rs 700 crore as canal water user charges from farmers and others for using canal water. Not only farmers, the water user charges have also not been recovered from private firms, and companies using the canal water.

An annual review of the Water Resources (Irrigation) wing of the PWD by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has revealed that while Rs 675.37 crore was recoverable from farmers, another Rs 40.48 crore was recoverable from private firms and companies.

In 2014, the state government had approved water cess at a rate of Rs 50 per acre per crop, instead of ‘abiana’ (charges) from farmers at a rate of Rs 150 per acre per crop by amending the Indian Canal & Drainage Act, 1873. Earlier, the farmers were paying Rs 75 for each crop and Rs 150 for two crop seasons in a year for using water for irrigation.

The decision was taken for maintenance and cleaning of minors and distributaries which will ensure that proper flow of water reaches farming fields. It is expected to mobilise a sum of Rs 200 crore per annum for this purpose. Punjab’s huge canal network is regularly in need of repairs.

The Revenue Department had been engaged in collecting the ‘abiana’ for decades, before it was abolished in 2014.

It was also decided to set up water users committees at the XEN-level. This committee under the respective XEN is meant to collect and deposit the funds in account of societies. The funds are to be used for cleaning minors and distributaries in the jurisdiction of respective committees.

Rs 44 cr pending in bathinda division

The CAG has conducted audit of 27 PWD irrigation units. Canal division, Bathinda, has the highest recoverable amount of Rs 44 crore, followed by Abohar Canal division with amount of Rs 43 crore.

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