Maha cabinet approves Rs 1,340-crore water conservation scheme

The Maharashtra cabinet onThursday approved a new scheme under which a sum of Rs 1,340crore will be spent over three years to enhance irrigationcapacityand create additional water bodies.

The chief minister water conservation programme isbeing implemented after the MVA government discontinued theprevious BJP administration's 'Jalyukt Shivar' project thatinvolved deepening and widening of streams, construction ofcement and earthen stop dams and digging of farm ponds.

A statement issued by the Chief Ministers Officeafter a cabinet meeting here said under the programme, repairand restoration of existing water bodies will be taken up.

Existing water bodies built under 7,916 conservationschemes need special repairs, the statement said.

In the last 30 to 40 years, a lot of water bodies havebeen created under the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) andother programmes meant for drought mitigation, it said.

But, since these programmes have not been implementedto their full capacity, the water bodies created under themhave not been maintained properly or repaired regularly, thestatement said.

The new water conservation and irrigation capacityenhancement scheme will be implemented till March 2023 and itwill incur a cost of Rs 1,340 crore, it said.

The statement said percolation tanks, storage barrageand other water bodies up to 600 hectares will be taken up forrepairs and restoration.

The Devendra Fadnavis regime's flagship waterconservation programme, 'Jalyukt Shivar', that aimed at makingthe state drought-free, was shelved by the MVA government lastyear citing 'sub-standard work' under the project.

In another decision, the cabinet withdrew orders ofthe previous Fadnavis government to dissolve the NagpurImprovement Trust twice - in December 2016 and August 2019.

The government felt there was no need to implement theearlier decisions related to the trust, the statement said.

The improvement trust had been engaged in planneddevelopment of Nagpur city and maintaining its existinginfrastructure.