Is Finance Department trying to scuttle clearance of 275.15 crore rupees project for construction of Balance Portion / Extension of the main Ravi Canal upstream of Ravi River from Basantpur right up to the inflow of Reservoir of Ranjit Sagar Dam? This is despite the fact that the project has the potential of irrigating nearly 1.33 lakh acres of land in three districts of Jammu province and about 82-kilometer canal, 500 kilometer tributaries for the same were constructed 30 years back.
In addition, another important aspect is that the project has the potential to produce nearly 20 MW of electricity for our power-deficit State. Incidentally the State Cabinet had already cleared the project for implementation but then it has got into bottleneck at the Finance Department.
The State Cabinet has already cleared the project two years back. As such a collective decision in which Finance Ministry was involved cannot be kept under wraps for some reason or some doubt. Whatever be the reason, the projects shouldn’t be allowed to become a bone of contention between the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Irrigation headed by Taj Mohiu’d-Din. Even the Planning Department had given its concurrence for the project and earmarked Rs 20 crores for the purpose. Besides, the State Cabinet had also agreed to allocate 10 percent of the water usage charges collected by the State after the introduction of the Act in 2010 year.
It is an embarrassing situation for the ministries concerned and the Cabinet as well, but much more for the people of the State who are adversely affected by non – supply of water for irrigation purposes.
For the welfare of the masses, the heads of two Ministries should iron out their differences and reach to an early conclusion for the implementation of the project. The projects would also reduce the dependence of several district of Jammu region on Punjab for their water supply. Even today, when the Kharif season has ended, the Punjab Government has stopped the water supply to Kathua canal, Basantpur that has added to the miseries of the farmers in our area.
Meanwhile, the State Government should forcefully take-up with Punjab Government and the Union Government the issue of compensation pertaining to Ranjit Sagar Dam. As a matter of fact, in June 2010 the State had written a strongly worded letter to the Punjab Government and the Cabinet Sub-Committee chaired by the CM had categorically declined to lease out 500 acres of land to the Punjab for construction of Shahpur Kandi Barrage from which J&K was to draw water as per 1979 Agreement. The letter said that even the compensation for the land provided for Ranjit Sagar Dam was not given to the State under 1979 Agreement. The letter asked the Punjab Government to compensate the losses suffered by J&K for past 30 years because of non-implementation of the agreement by Punjab. It demanded power share for 40 percent from Ranjit Sagar Dam to compensate previous power losses. The letter also threatened Punjab of legal re-course in case it failed to pay the compensation.
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