Maharashtra government plans to complete 106 irrigation projects by 2019 end.

The Maharashtra government has set an ambitious target of completing 106 irrigation projects by the end of next year in a bid to achieve its target of creating an additional water capacity of 1,500 mm cube (million metre cube) in the irrigation command area. Earlier, the government had decided upon a two-pronged strategy to optimise water storage capacity and also bring in additional land under irrigation.

“In November 2014, the government had decided to complete 225 irrigation projects. It was estimated that this would help in creating additional water storage capacity in the irrigation command area up to 2,500 mm cube,” said an official in the state ministry of water resources.

Officials said the mid-term review of the works has revealed that the projects are mostly on track and it could be expedited to yield better results. “The state has recorded additional water storage capacity at 1,000 mm cube following the completion of the 119 irrigation projects till May 15. This has resulted in bringing 2.62 lakh hectares under irrigation… The remaining 106 projects are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019,” a senior secretary in the ministry said.

On the administrative side, redeployment of work force from construction to management of irrigation projects has helped take the projects ahead. Along with completion of the projects, emphasise has also been on plugging water seepages in the existing structures (dams), an official said.

“Moreover, water level in the dams is at 27 per cent despite low rainfall at 76 per cent in 2017-18. In comparison, 19 per cent water was available last year (2016-17) even with higher rainfall at 82 per cent,” the official added. He attributed this to the completion of the 119 irrigation projects.

An internal note of the ministry mentions how Kolhapuri Type Weirs (KT Weirs) has helped in resolving the drinking water problem of 35.88 lakh villagers and brought 3.5 lakh hectares under irrigation.

According to statistics provided by the ministry, installation of 50,505 needles (gates) and repairs undertaken in 1,206 K T Weirs across the state have helped create an additional water capacity of 36 TMC (million cubic feet).

THE INDIAN EXPRESS