TS canal-based irrigation system to be replicated in Punjab

Hyderabad: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said on Thursday that Telangana's canal-based irrigation system, that efficiently uses river water, would be replicated in his home State.

The CM appreciated the Telangana government's work in efficient use of water by taking up the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS). He visited the project to explore opportunities to build such project in Punjab.

Mann visited the Konda Pochamma Sagar, built as part of KLIS, at Markook, where Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) Rajat Kumar explained working of the reservoir. He also briefed Mann on KLIS, after which the Punjab CM saw the motors being used for the lift irrigation project.

Mann said Punjab has more than 14 lakh tube-wells and that lake-irrigation system needs to be developed in the State. He later visited a check dam built across the Kudavelly Vagu, near Erravally village, in Markook and the Pandavula Cheruvu, which has been developed into a mini tank bund after restoration. The CM stated that they would always be happy to learn from good initiatives in any part of the world.

Interacting with farmers at Pandavula Cheruvu, he enquired how their lives had changed post the formation of Telangana. Pochaiah, a farmer, explained his plight before and after the Mission Kakatiya. He said his two acres of land piece was kept idle and he gave up agriculture due to scarcity of water. After the Mission Kakatiya, the ponds were rejuvenated and bunds were widened. The storage capacity increased and groundwater levels rose considerably.

The farmers replied that their income had increased considerably since they were getting irrigation water. The groundwater table too improved considerably since the government built a number of reservoirs across the State.

Mann said that farmers everywhere in the country were struggling and regularly staging protests because they could not get remunerative prices for their products. He said they will coordinate with Telangana officials in future as well in implementing schemes for the State's development.