Himachal Pradesh Govt today requested the union Govt to provide liberal financial support for development of water resources infrastructure in the state.
While speaking in the 6th meeting of National Water Resources Council here today Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that state Govt has launched world bank funded 59.48 crore cost Hydrology Project-II , to develop a robust, comprehensive and reliable hydrological data base under which observation stations are being established to monitor surface water, ground water and meteorological parameters .He said that the observed data will be stored in easy accessible computerized data bank for dissemination to various stake holders for effective planning in water resources sector and bring in cost effectiveness in water related investment in the state.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that 2.31 lakh hectares land has been identified as flood prone in the state out of which 21575 hectare land has been covered under various flood protection measures. He said that govt will channelize Seer Khad in phased manner to protect big area of Districts Mandi, Hamirpur and Bilaspur from flash floods during monsoon season and 3 rd phase of swan river channelization will be undertaken to cover area between Santokhgarh bridge to upto Punjab border and Gagret bridge. He said that project proposal have been prepared for channelization of Chhonch Khad in Indora tehsil of Kangra district and Palchan to Aut on river beas in Kullu districts.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that out of total 5.83 lakh hectare of cultivable area in the state out of which 3.35 lakh hectare area can be covered under assured irrigation facilities an added that so far an area of 2.53 lakh hectare has been covered under various irrigation schemes .He said that efforts are being made to execute new medium/minor irrigation projects to cover entire cultivable area under irrigation facilities and added that sprinkler irrigation is being encouraged to make best efficient use of available water resources in the state.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that state Govt has formulated its own “State Water Policy “to provide adequate and safe drinking water to all citizens and assured irrigation to maximum feasible cultivated area through public participation. He said that in view of global warming, a new pattern to design/execute new water supply schemes has been formulated under which bigger water resources are being tapped to cover maximum possible population .He said that 28073 hand pumps have been installed in water scarcity areas regions of the state and urban water supply schemes are being augmented keeping in view of growing population of urban areas in the state. He said that Govt has set up ground water authority to regulate, manage and develop ground water resources in the state.
He said that water harvesting structures have been made mandatory for all Govt buildings, institutional buildings, schools, hotels and industrial units to conserve rain water and further utilize it for various purposes such as gardening and cleaning purpose etc. He said that as per 2011 census, 89.5 % families are using tap water in the state in comparison to 84.1 % people in previous census. He said that 83.9% of tap water is being made available from treated sources in the state as against 32% at national level.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that govt will accord top priority to provide safe drinking water and irrigation facilities to the farmers and added that all census villages have been provided safe drinking water in the state. He told that as per survey conducted in 2003, there were 53201 habitations in the state out of which 42476 habitations have been covered upto march 2012 and added that remaining 10725 habitations, 2530 habitations will be covered during the current financial year .He said that state govt is providing 70 liters drinking water per person per day in rural areas.
