Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who also holds the charge of the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department, today inspected the damaged portion of the Shah irrigation canal project in the Fatehpur Assembly segment of Kangra.
It is the lone canal irrigation project in the state and was damaged due to flashfloods in the Beas during the monsoon last year. The portion of the Shah canal from where water is picked up from the Beas was damaged in flashfloods and as a result, 30 villages in Fatehpur and Nurpur areas of Kangra district had not been getting irrigation water since last year.
Sources said that about 10,000 farmers were not getting water to irrigate their fields. The problems of the farmers of the region multiplied this summer due to extreme heat and drought-like conditions in June and July. Agnihotri directed officials of the Jal Shakti Department to immediately start the repair work on the damaged portion of the Shah canal.
He said that the irrigation and drinking water projects in Kangra district had suffered extensive damage estimated at Rs 300 crore during the monsoon last year. While most of the drinking water schemes had been made functional, the work on the damaged portion of the Shah canal had been delayed due to a paucity of funds. The officials concerned had been directed to make a fresh estimate for the repair work on the canal and start it soon, he added.
Illegal mining
The Jal Shakti Department has estimated that about ~25 crore is required for the repair of the Shah canal
Farmers of the region blame illegal mining for the damage to the project