look news india
Bhopal, 17 February (HS). Madhya Pradesh Water Resources Minister Tulsiram Silawat met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat during his stay in New Delhi on Saturday. During this, he demanded a special package from the Central Government to renovate more than five thousand medium and small ponds of the state. Water Resources Minister Silawat expressed gratitude to the Union Jal Shakti Minister for signing the MoU with the Rajasthan Government for the ERC Chambal-Parvati-Kali Sindh Project and also discussed about the Ken Betwa Link Project.
It is noteworthy that under the Water Resources Department, irrigation potential has been created in an area of 41.80 lakh hectares by constructing about 5,800 big, small and medium ponds. By increasing this, the target is to develop irrigation capacity in 53 lakh hectare area.
Water Resources Minister Silavat told Union Jal Shakti Minister Shekhawat that many ponds built in the state are years old. These need improvement and repair. Besides, accumulation of silt coming with water in ponds also reduces their water holding capacity. Since many ponds are in the urban area, there is a proposal to beautify them and develop them as tourist destinations by planting trees around them. A plan is being prepared by the department for this. There is a probable expenditure of about Rs 150 crore in this. Silavat requested the Union Minister to allocate Rs 150 crore for the implementation of the scheme.
The Minister also placed before the Union Minister the demand of granting approval and allocation of funds as per the Central Government's policy RRR (Triple R) for strengthening the canals of the Water Resources Department and making them more organized. Union Minister Shekhawat instructed the subordinate officers to take immediate action on all the issues.