Chandigarh, June 9- Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal who from day one of his tenure has been making Bhagirath-like efforts to save every single drop of water, today took another pivotal step towards ensuring that future generations have access to clean and safe water as he launched biennial Integrated Water Resources Action Plan (2023-25).
"The plan aims to meet the twin challenges of water depletion and water logging. I am confident that the action plan will serve as a roadmap to achieve the targets of water saving and water management in the state," said Sh. Manohar Lal while speaking at the launch ceremony.
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Sh. J P Dalal also remained present on this occasion.
He informed that the total water availability of the state is 20,93,598 crore litres whereas the total water demand is 34,96,276 crore litres making a water gap of 14 lakh crore litres.
"All water related Departments have come forward and taken the ownership to conserve water through various demand and supply side interventions, which would save around 6.97 lakh crore litres (49.7 percent) of water in next two years," said Sh. Manohar Lal.
Major departments related to water are part of this progressive plan
The Chief Minister said that the maximum amount of water is used in agriculture and horticulture sector, which are 86 percent and 5 percent respectively. Continuous efforts are needed to reduce water consumption by adopting water conservation methods, he added.
He further informed that the Agriculture Department has included various measures in the action plan. According to this, 3.14 lakh acres of area will be covered under crop diversification, which will save 1.05 lakh crore litres (7.6 percent) of water. Direct seeding of paddy will be done in 4.75 lakh acres and will save 1.18 lakh crore liters (8.4 per cent). 27.53 lakh acres will be brought under conservation tillage to save 0.51 lakh crore liters (3.7 per cent).
Further 0.47 lakh crore liters (3.4 percent) will be saved by using high varieties in 3.49 lakh acres, 0.35 lakh crore liters (2.5 percent) of water will be saved by using green manure in 9.73 lakh acres, 0.27 lakh crore litres will be saved by covering 0.43 lakh acres under natural farming A target has been set to save litres (1.9 percent) of water.
Similarly, Irrigation Department (including MICADA), Public Health Engineering Department, Panchayats Department (including Ponds Authority and Rural Development) and others (PWD, ULB, Forest, Education (Higher, Technical and Secondary) have also given measures for water resources
The Chief Minister shared that recently, a two-day ‘Water Conclave’ was held. The main objective of the conclave was to discuss an Integrated Water Resources Management Strategy and Approach in view of the depleting ground water levels. The Departments had presented their plans of Demand and Supply side interventions on the basis of inputs from District Committees, experts and researchers, shared Sh. Manohar Lal.
CM becomes emotional, urges everyone to ensure sustainable use of Natural Resources, not exploit them
While highlighting the importance of the substantial use of natural resources, the Chief Minister became emotional and said, "Betiyon ne hame awaz di toh humane beti bachao beti padahao abhiyan chalaya. Aaj Dharti Maa hame awaz de rahi hai, toh ab hamara farz banta hai ki hum apne prakritik sansadhano ka dohan kare par soshan na kare (We launched Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign to save our daughters. Now Mother nature is calling us to save her). Therefore I urge everyone to use natural resources substantially and not exploit them." said Sh. Manohar Lal.
He said that five elements (Panchtatva) mean Bhagawan. 'Bhagawan' is made of five elements. BHA stands for Bhu or prithvi which means earth, GA stands for Gagan or akash or sky or space, AA stands for Agni or fire; WA stands for Vayu or air; and NA stands for Neer or jal or water. Therefore we have to save our valuable natural resources.
The Chief Minister also lauded the dedicated efforts of all the concerned departments for their hard work and commitment in preparing the Integrated Water Resources Action Plan.
Reduce, Recycle and Reuse should be our focus as we move towards water management and conservation
The Chief Minister said that 'Reduce, Recycle and Reuse' should be our focus as we move towards water management and conservation.
"We are taking new innovatives like Mera Pani Meri Virasat for crop diversification. I thank the farmers of my state who have adopted this scheme on 1.5 lakh acres of land. Farmers are also moving towards the Direct Seeded Rice method," said Sh. Manohar Lal.
He said that as present, 250 cusec water is being given to Delhi as per the Supreme Court orders. In the coming times, the water need is certainly going to increase, hence dedicated efforts are being made to ensure that proper management of water with optimum use, recycle and reuse is done.
SYL is a pivotal issue for Haryana and Punjab
The Chief Minister said that SYL is a pivotal issue for Haryana and Punjab.
"We are hopeful that this issue will soon be resolved. Construction of SYL is not in our hands," he added.
He further shared that three dams, Renuka, Lakwar and Kishau dam are being built so as to ensure regulation of water. With the construction of these dams, the water needs of the state would certainly be addressed.
"Plans are also being made to explore the utilisation of small sources of water. Dams will be constructed and plans will be formulated to ensure how this water can be utilised for local use. Work is being done on 9 dams, the work on Adi badri dam is completed," shared Sh. Manohar Lal.
This action plan will prove to be a milestone in Haryana's efforts towards water conservation - Keshani Anand Arora
Earlier speaking on the occasion, Chairperson, Haryana Water Resources Authority(HWRA), Smt. Keshani Anand Arora said that the plan has been formulated as per the vision and guidance shared by the Chief Minister.
She said that the ground water level is depleting at a very fast pace, hence working on the water conservation on mission mode was the need of the hour.
To achieve this target, this plan has been formulated with the major objectives of doing the assessment of water resources availability and demand, determination of demand and supply gap and the identification of key challenges and strategy, said Smt. Keshani Anand Arora.
Additional Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner, Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Sh. Rajesh Khullar, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, Sh. Sudhir Rajpal, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Health Engineering Department, Sh. AK Singh, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Director General, Information, Public Relations, Language and Culture Department, Dr. Amit Agrawal, Advisor (Irrigation) to Chief Minister, Sh. Devender Singh, Commissioner and Secretary, Irrigation and Water Resources Department, Sh. Pankaj Agarwal and other officers also remained present on this occasion.