Bihar Govt Dedicated To Ensure Irrigation Water Reaches Every Field: Minister Santosh Suman

Patna, 24 February: Bihar's Minister for the Department of Minor Water Resources, Shri Santosh Kumar Suman, stated on Monday that the state government is making dedicated efforts to strengthen water conservation and irrigation facilities. The government aims to ensure water availability for irrigation in every field.

During a press conference at the Information Building's press hall, Honourable Minister Shri Suman highlighted the achievements of the Department of Minor Water Resources. He mentioned that in 2019, Honourable Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar launched the Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali scheme to tackle water scarcity and groundwater conservation.

The Honourable Minister emphasised that 74% of Bihar's population resides in rural areas, primarily dependent on agriculture. The state has 9.4 million hectares of agricultural land, and providing adequate irrigation facilities remains a government priority.

He further noted that in 2019, Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar took significant steps to address water scarcity through the Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali scheme. In line with this initiative, a goal has been set to ensure irrigation water availability in every field by 2025.

Completion of 2,217 Projects under 'Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali' and 765 Projects under 'Water for Every Field' Programme

Irrigation water is crucial for agriculture. The Department of Minor Water Resources implements schemes covering command areas up to 2,000 hectares, providing irrigation through surface and groundwater schemes.

Under the surface irrigation scheme, two flagship initiatives of the Honourable Chief Minister-Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali and Water for Every Field-are being implemented:

- To combat climate change, the Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali campaign focuses on renovating and constructing large ponds, check dams, and canals exceeding specific size thresholds to enhance water storage and irrigation capacity.
- The Water for Every Field programme aims to improve irrigation in non-irrigated areas, including renovating canals, constructing check dams, and restoring lift irrigation schemes. The department is also responsible for implementing the Chief Minister's Private Tubewell Scheme, which provides subsidies for farmers.

For the financial year 2024-25, ₹1,026.87 crore has been allocated for implementing these schemes.

Departmental Achievements:

1. Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Campaign:
- As of the financial year 2023-24, 2,217 out of 2,377 approved projects worth ₹2,339.869 crore have been completed.
- These projects have restored 228,225 hectares of irrigation capacity and 993 million cubic metres of water storage.
- For 2024-25, an additional 139 projects with a budget of ₹260.299 crore have been approved.
- Upon completion, these will restore 25,822 hectares of irrigation capacity by June 2025.

2. 'Water for Every Field' Programme:
- As of 2023-24, 765 out of 981 approved projects worth ₹1,139.408 crore have been completed.
- These have restored irrigation capacity for 112,086 hectares.
- For 2024-25, 1,516 new projects worth ₹2,331.79 crore have been approved.
- Once finished, these projects will restore irrigation capacity for 187,195 hectares.

3. Chief Minister's Private Tubewell Scheme:
- The goal is to install 35,000 private tubewells, irrigating 175,000 hectares of land.
- To date, 10,279 private tubewells have been installed, with a grant of ₹33.52 crore disbursed to farmers.

4. Projects Announced During the Chief Minister's Development Tour:
The Honourable Chief Minister announced several projects during his progress review tour, including:

- Bhagalpur: Construction of Fatehpur Check Dam (on the Champanadi River, upstream of the Godiyari River).
- Aurangabad: Construction of Chand Vigha Check Dam.
- Gaya:
- Construction of Lawabar Canal Irrigation Scheme.
- Development of Bara Bandh (Labji River) Check Dam Irrigation Scheme.
- Nalanda:
- Renovation of Bargain Canal Irrigation Scheme.
- Concrete canal construction from Sangat Para to Jalalpur Government School and desilting of ponds in Noorsarai.
- Kaimur: Cleaning of Ramapur-Baghi Head Canal up to Rampur Pali.

The implementation of all these projects will commence shortly.