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August 8th, 2024
Via India Express, a report on a new irrigation canal planned in water-starved Punjab:
Almost seven decades after the construction of the Bhakra Main Line (BML), Sirhind Feeder, and the Bist Doab canals in the mid-1950s, Punjab wants to spend Rs 2,300 crore on a new irrigation channel, running roughly 150 km in a north-south direction in the state’s south-western corner.
The Punjab government faces a serious funds crunch, and some experts have raised questions over the technical viability of the proposed project. What is this canal that Punjab wants to build, and why?
Proposed Malwa canal
The proposed 149.53-km canal is named after Malwa, the biggest and politically most important of the three geographical and cultural regions of Punjab, which sprawls across the entire southern part of the state. The proposed 50-foot wide and 12-foot deep canal will originate at the Harike Headworks on the Sutlej river in Ferozepur district, and will carry 2,000 cusecs of water. (A cusec is flow equivalent to 1 cubic foot per second.)
The proposed canal, which will tail off at Warring Khera village in Muktsar district close to the border with Haryana, will flow parallel to the Sirhind Feeder and Rajasthan Feeder canals, to the latter’s east. The canal, which is expected to take five years to build, is projected to irrigate 2 lakh acres of land in seven districts.
Need for a new canal
The Malwa canal proposes to provide additional water to the left side of the Rajasthan Feeder canal, which the Sirhind Feeder cannot supply effectively, especially during the kharif paddy sowing season, when the demand is high. (The Rajasthan Feeder carries waters of the Ravi and Beas exclusively for Rajasthan.)
Since the 51-km Ferozepur Feeder, which takes off from the Harike Headworks, struggles to cater to the entire state, supply to the 136-km Sirhind Feeder, which begins from the Ferozepur Feeder, is impacted. The situation becomes so severe that Punjab has to run its canals by rotation.
More than 300 lift pumps operate on the Sirhind Feeder between Faridkot and Muktsar, irrigating the area on the left bank of the Rajasthan Feeder. This area was originally irrigated by the Abohar Branch Upper and Bathinda Branch of the Sirhind canal system, fed from the Ropar Headworks. Farmers in Abohar and Fazilka have often asked for canal water, complaining that the groundwater in the area is polluted.
Who gains from canal
“More water will be available for the Abohar area from the Sirhind Feeder, and Muktsar, Gidderbaha, Bathinda, and Zira will get their rightful share of water. It will serve the entire Malwa area,” Water Resources Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra has said.
According to Water Resources Department officials, Punjab gets only 68% of its allowance from the Bhakra dam, while Rajasthan gets about 125% and Haryana 110-115%. “This new canal will help in removing this anomaly and creating a balance,” an official said.
In Ferozepur, Faridkot, and Muktsar districts, 28, 10, and 24 villages respectively on the left side of the Rajasthan Feeder canal are projected to benefit. Around 190 villages will receive water continuously, and rotation of canals will no longer be needed in the entire Ferozepur Feeder area, officials said.
Challenges before govt
Funds for the Rs-2,300 crore project is the primary hurdle before the state already reeling under a debt burden of Rs 3.5 lakh crore. Given the hostility between the BJP-led central government and the AAP government in Punjab, the Centre is not expected to be helpful. The state is looking at securing funding from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
The regular process of carrying out a socio-economic survey to figure out the need for land acquisition, and to assess the extent of human displacement and rehabilitation and compensation, will have to be gone through. Environmental clearance, permission to fell trees, and clearance from the Central Water Commission will be needed. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) is in the process of being submitted, a government official said.
A retired chief engineer of irrigation in Punjab who did not want to be identified said that the canal project had been considered when Parkash Singh Badal was Chief Minister. “We opined that such a project would be technically unviable as the levels of the canal and the working head at Harike would not match. Lifts were installed to raise water from the Sirhind canal, and we would need lifts again,” the retired official said.
In any case, the official said, there wasn’t enough water to begin with. “If we had the water, why would we need to run the existing canals by rotation?” he asked.