Relining of Sarhand, Rajasthan canals gets Centre's approval

Punjab Irrigation Department today said the Centre has sanctioned the project of 'relining of Sarhand Feeder (SF) and Rajasthan Feeder (RF) canals' for permanently solving the problem of water-logging in the state.
Stating this, Irrigation Secretary K S Pannu said the state government will soon start the work of relining of 100 km of these twin canals from Faridkot to Lohgargh headworks at a cost of Rs 1,800 crore. The project is expected to be completed within next four years.
Pannu said with the relining of these canals, problem of water-logging will be permanently controlled as relining will stop seepage from these twin canals, which is the root cause of water-logging in southwest Punjab.

SF and RF canals originate from Harike headwork and flow through Ferozpur, Faridkot and Sri Muktsar Sahib districts. He said at present more than 80,000 hectares of agricultural land get affected by water-logging in the state.
With relining of the canals, farmers would be able to get more water for their crops in the region as it would control seepage up to 1,000 cusecs, he said.
This project would also decrease the threat of floods in southwest parts of state, he added.

Speaking on the quality of work and transparency, Pannu said that the government has already ordered a third party quality audit of the project and for transparency, from tendering to completion of project, all aspects will be monitored by high-power monitoring committees.

He said the bid document is ready and the government would call global tender to make sure the participation of best construction companies in the project.
Talking about flood control measures and control of water-logging problem, Pannu said the government had already spent Rs 125 crore on cleaning, upgradation of drainage system and construction of other civil works in southwest Punjab.
A sum of Rs 4.5 crore was spent on construction of sub-surface drains and Rs 56 crore on other permanent civil works to curb water-logging in the region, he added.