Nabard sanctions Rs 236 cr to Haryana

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sanctioned a loan worth Rs 236.49 crore to Haryana under the 20th tranche of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).

The fund is meant for irrigation works and increasing intensity of irrigation and recharge works in 13 districts of the state. The beneficiary districts are Ambala, Bhiwani, Hisar, Fatehabad, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa and Sonepat.

With this sanction, the cumulative assistance sanctioned to Haryana under RIDF has reached Rs 4,490.61 crore. It involves 3,518 projects under various sectors, including irrigation, rural connectivity, water supply, anganwadis, girls' toilet blocks, veterinary hospitals and dispensaries, among others. RIDF came into being in 1995-96.

D V Deshpande, chief general manager, Haryana regional office of Nabard, said, "The project is aimed at utilising the irrigation infrastructure by constructing new channels and remodelling the existing channels. The existing channels were constructed 25-40 years back and were badly damaged because of continuous use, internal silt clearance and heavy floods in the past."

The project envisages to create an irrigation potential of 150,000 hectare and generate about three million non-recurring employment and 7,810 recurring employment a year. Further, the project will create assured irrigation facilities and bring about considerable changes in cropping pattern, farm income, land prices and other social conditions.