Amarinder lays stone for canal water projects in Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday laid foundation stones for three projects to supply canal water to 409 villages in the adjoining districts of Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib.

Singh also inaugurated a sewerage project for a cluster of 10 villages near Bahadurgarh in Patiala district, where excess fluoride in water is causing skeletal and dental fluorosis, an official release said.

Speaking on the occasion at Mandoli here, the chief minister appealed to the people to use the depleting groundwater reserves judiciously and not to waste the precious resource.

"We will not leave anything for our future generations if we don't care for our water," he warned, describing the groundwater reserves in Punjab as "precarious".

Singh said the state government would not allow its water to be shared with other states. He said the entire state was facing an acute drinking water crisis, which has only aggravated over the years.

While the three surface water projects and a sewerage project carries an investment of Rs 520 crore, the potable drinking water scheme, covering a rural population of over 5.28 lakh, has been launched at a cost of Rs 475 crore and the sewerage project at Bahadurgarh is worth Rs 45 crore.

He said the condition of poor farmers was pitiable as they were even unable to install big motors. The chief minister said his government was doing everything possible to help out such farmers through its farm debt waiver and other schemes.

He said the projects for which he laid foundation stones were part of his government's ambitious programme to provide clear surface water to the people of the state. Singh said it was not correct to link these projects, meant for the welfare of the citizens, with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The canal water project is being executed with financial assistance from NABARD. The sewerage project is aimed at addressing the health problems resulting from lack of proper draining of sewage.

A lateral sewerage line of 83.88 km will be laid under this project and the estimated cost of it is Rs 45.21 crore. After the completion of this project, 5,394 households with a population of 32,361 of the 10 villages will get eco-friendly sanitation facilities, the release said.

Former Union Minister Preneet Kaur also spoke on the occasion.