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The Centre plans to launch 285 irrigation projects covering a total of 1.88 crore hectares of farmland by next year, said the Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari here on Tuesday.
The work on three out of the 30 approved river interlinking projects would commence within three months, Gadkari told the India Water Week, which was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind. These projects are Ken-Betwa, Par-Tapi Narmada and Daman Gang Pinjal.
The government has also proposed a ₹ 6,000 crore national ground water management improvement scheme, with the support of the World Bank, said Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Water Resources, who was present on the occasion.
The government was exploring the possibility of creating a corpus to finance the river interlinking project, which, the minister said, was crucial to save people from floods and droughts. There is also a need to have innovative ways to use 70 per cent of river water that flows to seas, he added.
Gadkari said he was exploring the possibility of NTPC power plants using treated waste water and that he had spoken to the Power Minister in this regard.
According to Meghwal, there are 112 districts in the country where irrigation cover is less than 20 per cent and time-bound action plans are needed to meet the challenges of water scarcity and flood management.
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