Bihar Government Strengthens Irrigation and Water Conservation Under Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yojana

Minister of Minor Water Resources Department of Bihar Government, Shri Santosh Kumar Suman said on Monday that the state government is making every effort to conserve water and strengthen irrigation facilities. The government's effort is to provide water for irrigation to every farm.

While talking to journalists during a press conference organized in the Samvad Auditorium of Information Bhawan, Honorable Minister Shri Suman informed about the achievements of the Minor Water Resources Department. He said that in 2019, Honorable Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar had started the Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yojana to deal with the water crisis and conserve groundwater.

The Honorable Minister said that 74 percent of the population of Bihar lives in rural areas and is mainly dependent on agriculture. There is 94 lakh hectares of agricultural land in the state, to which providing better irrigation facilities is the priority of the government.

He said that Honorable Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar took concrete steps towards dealing with the water crisis by starting the Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yojana in 2019. In this sequence, a target was set to ensure the availability of irrigation water in every farm by 2025.

2217 schemes of “Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali” Abhiyan and 765 schemes of “Har Khet Tak Irrigation Water” program completed

Irrigation water is very essential for agriculture. Schemes with command area up to 2000 hectares are implemented by the Minor Water Resources Department. Under this, irrigation facility is provided through surface irrigation scheme and groundwater irrigation scheme.

Under the surface irrigation scheme, work is being done under two ambitious schemes of the Honorable Chief Minister, “Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali” Abhiyan and “Har Khet Tak Irrigation Water” program.

• To deal with the changing climate, under the “Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali” Abhiyan, work is being done to renovate/construct ahar-pain with an area of ​​more than one acre, ponds with an area of ​​more than five acres and weirs/check-dams with irrigation capacity up to 2000 hectares.

• With the objective of providing irrigation facilities in unirrigated areas, under the program “Irrigation water to every field”, renovation work of all ahar-pain, construction work of weirs/check-dams with irrigation capacity up to 2000 hectares and length of more than 15 meters and renovation/construction work of lift irrigation scheme, along with the responsibility of grant-based Chief Minister Private Tubewell Scheme under Ground Water Irrigation Scheme has been given to the Minor Water Resources Department.

In the financial year 2024-25, a budget provision of Rs 1026.87 crore has been made for the implementation of the schemes of this department.

Achievement of the Department:-

1. “Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali” Abhiyan:-

• Under the “Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali” Abhiyan, out of a total of 2377 schemes granted administrative approval with an estimated amount of Rs. 2339.869 crores till the financial year 2023-24, 2217 schemes have been completed.

• The completed schemes have restored irrigation capacity of about 2,28,225 hectares and water storage capacity of about 993.00 lakh cubic meters.

• In the financial year 2024-25, administrative approval has been given to a total of 139 schemes costing Rs. 260.299 crores.

• With the completion of these schemes, about 25,822 hectares of irrigation capacity will be restored.

• A target has been set to complete these administratively approved schemes by June 2025. 2. “Irrigation water to every farm” program:-

• Under the “Irrigation water to every farm” program, out of a total of 981 schemes given administrative approval of an estimated amount of 1139.408 crores till the financial year 2023-24, 765 schemes have been completed.

• About 1,12,086 hectares of irrigation capacity has been restored by the completed schemes.

• In the financial year 2024-25, administrative approval has been given to a total of 1516 schemes costing Rs 2331.79 crore.

• With the completion of these schemes, about 1,87,195 hectares of irrigation capacity will be restored.

3. The target is to irrigate 175000 hectares of land by installing 35000 private tube wells in the Chief Minister's Private Tube Well Scheme. Till date, a total of 10279 private tube wells have been installed by the farmers under this scheme, against which a grant of approximately Rs. 33.52 crore has been issued. 4. Schemes announced by the Hon'ble Chief Minister during the Pragati Yatra:-

1. Bhagalpur - Construction of Fatehpur Check Dam (Construction and Beautification of Check Dam on Godiyari River upstream of Champa River)

2. Aurangabad - Construction of Chand Bigha Check Dam

3. Gaya - (i) Construction of Lawabar Weir Aahar Pain Scheme

(ii) Construction of Bara Dam (Labji River) Check Dam Irrigation Scheme

4. Nalanda - (i) Restoration of Bargain Aahar Pain Irrigation Scheme

(ii) Construction of Pucca Nala in Pain from Sangat Par of Nursarai to Jalalpur Government School and silt cleaning of pond

5. Kaimur - Cleaning of Canal from Rampur Village Baghi Head via Rampur Pali

All these schemes are to be implemented soon