Amargarh segment set to become top beneficiary of canal water by year-end

If claims made by officials of the Irrigation Department are to be believed, then the Amargarh Assembly segment would be the first to become the largest beneficiary of canal water by the end of this financial year.

56,000 acres, belonging to farmers of 127 villages in the Assembly segment, will be irrigated by canal water on the completion of a project, being built at a cost of Rs 111.34 crore.

Senior functionaries of the Irrigation Department, led by Executive Engineer Buta Singh, said the supply of canal water had already been started to about 28,000 acres, while the reaming area would start receiving it after the completion of the project.

MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra extended his gratitude to Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann and the officials of the Irrigation Department for extending their support in undertaking the project. Gajjan Majra asserted that providing canal water to farmers for irrigation was the top priority of the Punjab Government as it would also help restore the fast-depleting groundwater in the region. He added that the burden on groundwater could only be reduced through judicious use of canal water. “Earlier, the border state was using about 33 per cent of its available canal water but the usage percentage has already gone up and is expected to increase further after the completion of the project,” said the MLA.

Farmers, especially paddy cultivators, in the region have heaved a sigh of relief after the launch of the canal water project as they said they had better water and electricity supply to their fields now.