Punjab Soil and Water Conservation Minister Rana Gurjeet Singh on Friday laid the foundation stone of a project, which would provide treated water to irrigate 2,264 acres of land at a cost of Rs 11.10 crore.
Kick-starting the construction of the project here at Piplanwali village, Rana Gurjeet Singh said the project would cater to the irrigation needs of seven villages by utilizing treated wastewater of Hoshiarpur city through underground pipeline systems. “This project will ensure round-the-year availability of water to the farmers. Treated water being rich in nutrients, will also help increase the yield. When compared to earthen open channels, the underground pipeline system helps reduce the amount of water lost during conveyance. The project will reduce the dependency of farmers on groundwater,” he said.
Divisional Soil Conservation Officer Naresh Gupta said treated water from a sewage treatment plant that uses MBBR technology and has a capacity of 30 MLD would be supplied to seven villages, namely Piplanwala, Purheera, Bassi Daulat Khan, Singhriwal, Kuragana, Pandori Rukman, and Madooli Bhrahmna.
The minister urged people to conserve groundwater by adopting drip irrigation and reducing paddy cultivation. He said the water from ponds could also be used for irrigation purposes as the state government had started this project a few years back by allotting 23 ponds. Presently, Punjab had 4-million-acre feet (MAF) water of ponds available and efforts were afoot to make this initiative successful in time to come.
MLA Sunder Sham Arora said farmers of seven villages would benefit from it in a few months after its completion.
