Bhagwant Mann govt likely to announce new canal for Malwa in Punjab Budget

Tribune News Service

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, February 27

The Aam Aadmi Party government is expected to announce its first major infrastructure project when it presents its third Budget on March 5.

Will cost Rs 720 crore

• The estimated cost of the project is Rs 720 crore
• The proposed canal will have its offtake from the Harike headworks and will run along the left side of Rajasthan feeder canal
• The canal is proposed to be constructed on the unutilised land of Rajasthan and will have a command area of 1.77 lakh acres, a length of 150 km and depth of 25 feet

The government is likely announce the construction of a new canal — Malwa Canal — to run along the Rajasthan Feeder canal in the Budget.

Highly placed sources in the government have told The Tribune that the budgetary allocation for land acquisition for the canal and its construction will be made in the Budget proposals to be presented by Finance Minister Harpal Cheema.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 720 crore. This canal is expected to ramp up irrigation facilities in Faridkot, Bathinda, Muktsar and Fazilka. The announcement of a big infrastructure project in the Malwa region in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections is expected to give a fillip to the ruling party’s electoral prospects. Eight of Punjab’s 13 Lok Sabha constituencies fall in the Malwa region.

Official sources say that while the Rajasthan Government has already given an in-principle approval for the construction of the canal, the Punjab Government has now started the process of land acquisition.

The Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department, Krishan Kumar, has appointed seven Sub-Divisional Magistrates of Zira, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Kotkapura, Muktsar, Gidderbaha and Malout as Land Acquisition Officers. About 500 acres of land is to be acquired.

The proposed canal will have its offtake from the Harike headworks and run along the left side of Rajasthan feeder canal, all the way to Warring Khera village. The canal is proposed to be constructed on the unutilised land of Rajasthan on the left side of the Rajasthan feeder. It will have a command area of 1.77 lakh acres, a length of 150 km and depth of 25 feet, it is learnt, and 718.63 cusecs of water would be discharged through this canal.

The canal is expected to benefit both Punjab and Rajasthan as, with extra availability of water, the command area of the Sirhind Feeder canal will get continuous supply for irrigation. Presently, the Abohar canal division of Sirhind Feeder gets water on rotation basis during the kharif season.

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