By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 4 Mar: Irrigation Minister Satpal Maharaj today held a review meeting of the Irrigation and Minor Irrigation departments, at Sinchai Bhawan at Yamuna Colony here today. During the meeting he directed the officials to prepare a detailed action plan for the repair of damaged navigable canals of the Irrigation Department so that necessary provisions can be made in the budget. He also said that in view of the possibility of shortage of drinking water in the coming summer season, immediate action should be taken to run all the canals.
Maharaj said that tanks should be constructed to store the excess water flowing in the springs and Naulas located in the hills so that the water can be used for drinking water in summers. He instructed the officers that action should be taken to prepare new DPR for the construction of Lastar canal in Rudraprayag district and start the work at the earliest while ensuring the use of pipes supplied earlier in the new DPR.
Maharaj said that action on compensation in respect of Jamrani and Song Dam projects be taken only after clearing the situation regarding joint accounts. He said that effective action should be taken for the approval of Jamrani and Song Dam projects from the Union Government and for this, special instructions should be given by officers. A special workshop on safety of dams should be organised for all the dams located in the state. Discussing the points related to the safety of all the dams, an action plan should also be prepared from the point of view of safety. Safety analysis of reservoirs located in the state should also be compulsorily done from the point of view of possible earthquakes.
He further directed the officials to prepare detailed action plans to resume operations of dilapidated and closed canals, and submit the proposals to the government for approval. The Irrigation Minister asked the officials to initiate action for immediate approval of the Bharatpuri-Pampapuri flood protection scheme located in Ramnagar and to conduct a test for the direct discharge of water coming from Phool Tal located in the forest area in the drain into the river.
He said that after preparing the revised DPR for the construction of lakes in Satpuli and Seunsi, it should be made available to the government for approval in the month of April under the relevant items, and irrigation, drinking water and tourism components must be included in the plans.
Joint Secretary JL Sharma, Chief Engineer of Irrigation Department Jaipal, HOD of Minor Irrigation Department BK Tiwari, Puneet Kumar Malla, Rajeev Ranjan, RK Gupta, RO Tiwari, Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava, Prashant Bishnoi, Naveen, Subhash Chandra, DC Sanwal and officers of Irrigation and Minor Irrigation Department including Singh were present.
