Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri has sought an assistance of Rs 350 crore from the Center to complete the Finna Singh irrigation project, started in 2011. He said that the Fina Singh project at Noorpur in Kangra district was started in 2011 with an initial cost of Rs 204 crore, which has now increased to Rs 646 crore. Read full news…
Shimla: Himachal’s ambitious Finna Singh project could not be completed even in 12 years. Governments kept changing and meanwhile the cost of the project has increased from 204 crores to 646 crores. Actually, Finna Singh Irrigation Project of Noorpur in Kangra district was started in the year 2011 with an initial amount of Rs 204 crore. The cost of which has now increased to Rs 646 crore. To complete this project, the state has so far spent Rs 283 crore from its own resources. The state government has also urged the Center to release an additional Rs 350 crore at the earliest, so that the work on the project can be completed on priority basis. This project is also in the priority list of the Central Government.
Himachal’s Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri also raised this matter in the meeting held with Kushwinder Vohra, Chairman of the Central Water Commission i.e. CWC. He discussed in detail about providing necessary assistance to strengthen the irrigation schemes of the state. At the same time, sufficient water is not available for irrigation in the 5000 hectares of land coming under the Shah Canal Project. In the meeting, Mukesh Agnihotri urged the central government to provide additional resources to provide irrigation facility to this land.
Approval sought from the Center for these projects as well: Mukesh Agnihotri urged for speedy approval of Phase-II irrigation scheme to be built at a cost of Rs 75 crore in Beet area of Una district. He told that the state has completed the work of phase-one of this project with its own resources. He told that the remaining work of Nadaun irrigation scheme will also be completed within the next two-three months.
He invited the Chairman of the Central Water Commission to visit Himachal to strengthen the existing schemes in the state and explore possibilities for new irrigation schemes and prepare a roadmap for implementation. On this occasion, he also had a detailed discussion with the chairman of the commission about Sukhahar and Jwalaji irrigation schemes. He also discussed about financial arrangements for channelization of ravines in the state. He told that more attention needs to be given to flood control measures and channelization of ravines. The chairman of the Central Water Commission assured all possible cooperation to the state.
