$150m Ibrd Aid For Punjab Irrigation

The Punjab government has secured World Bank assistance worth $150 million to modernise its irrigation system and provide irrigation facilities to new areas.

The assistance will help Punjab save water being wasted through leakage and seepage, State irrigation minister Sikandar Singh Maluka said in a statement on Thursday.

Maluka said work on providing new irrigation facilities, construction of low dams, small canals and installation of tube-wells has already started in Gurdaspur, Ropar and Hoshiarpur.

To modernise the irrigation system, earthen canals and water courses are being lined, he said.

For efficient water management, irrigation gates are being installed at various control points alongwith wireless communication and computers.

 

The irrigation department plans to spend Rs 120 crore to construct about 300 km of drains to deal with water-logging in the south-west districts of the state.