Chhattisgarh to set up Irrigation Development Authority

The Chhattisgarh government has decided to set up an Irrigation Development Authority for the benefit of cultivators and to improve farm productivity, an official said on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel gave instructions to officials concerned for this on Monday and asserted that development of irrigation facilities is one of the top priorities of his government, he said.

"It is necessary to work on a mission mode for which such a monitoring authority is required," the government official said quoting the chief minister.

Chhattisgarh has nearly 57 lakh hectare of agricultural land.

But, in the last 14 years, the state's actual irrigation capacity increased from 10.22 lakh hectare (in 2004) to just 10.38 lakh hectare (in 2018), the official said.

The irrigation development authority would chalk out an action plan for the expansion of irrigation capacity and development of new schemes for it, he added.