This is for the first time, anywhere in Gujarat that farmers have taken an initiative to offer their lands for canals with a view to solve the water crisis.
In a bid to ensure early irrigation water in parched areas of Banaskantha district in North Gujarat, farmers in the region have volunteered to give their lands for construction of Narmada canals.
Narmada water will irrigate over 1.7 lakh hectare land in Banaskantha, which mainly depends on rains for water.
This is for the first time, anywhere in Gujarat that farmers have taken an initiative to offer their lands for canals with a view to solve the irrigation water crisis.
"Banaskantha is the only district where farmers have given possession of their lands for building canals without land acquisition process," RK Tripathy, managing director, Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) said.
Around 3,000-hectare land is required to build branch canals, distributories, minors and sub minor canals in this border district and it would take at least two years to acquire the required land through land acquisition process, he said.
Officials of SSNNL and minister of State for health Parbatbhai Patel, who is the local MLA from Banaskantha, convinced the farmers to hand over possession of the lands so that canal works can be expedited, Tripathy said.
There are five branch canals, and many minors and sub minors will be built in the district to bring the water to the farms, he said.
"We held meetings and rallies at village levels to explain to farmers the benefits of the Narmada project and why they should cooperate with handing over the lands," Parbatbhai Patel said.
"Eventually, we were able to convince the farmers and now they have surrendered the possession of lands in the command area," the minister added.
According to Patel, farmers have already given lands to build Manka, Malsar and Vejpur branch canals where construction work will begin soon.
Tripathy said work orders for canals in Banaskantha will be issued shortly by the Board and all canal works in the district are expected to be complete in three years.
In the last couple of years, works for building canal network had virtually stopped on account of a number of factors including land acquisition.
Earlier, SSNNL chairman NV Patel had said that land acquisition was one of the main problems causing inordinate delay in starting the canal works in the command area.
A 465-kilometre long main canal from Narmada was built and made operational long back, but 44 branch canals emerging out of the main canal are not complete.
If builders are given the possession of the lands and designs of structures at the time of awarding contract, there would be no delay in building the canals in a stipulated time period, Tripathy said.
The initiative and cooperation of farmers of Banaskantha is laudable and they have made SSNNL's work easier as we have got the lands where canals are to be built, he added.
Once completed, the Narmada project will irrigate around 18 lakh hectare area in Gujarat besides providing drinking water to over 10,000 villages and towns.
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