MANISH GUPTA
Ranchi, July 30: The Jharkhand agriculture department has completely trashed the claim of the Jharkhand water resources department on irrigation coverage in the state. While one department claims it is 41 per cent, the other says it is not more than 15 per cent.
“The state has 29 lakh hectares of cultivable land and maximum irrigation coverage can be provided to 24 lakh hectares due to geographical conditions. And, we have provided irrigation to 10.05 lakh hectares, or 41 per cent,” said Moti Lal Pingua, Chief Engineer, Planning and Project Monitoring, Jharkhand Water Resources Department.
This seems to be a remarkable achievement for the state that at the time of its formation in 2000 had less than 10 per cent of irrigation coverage. Considering the current rainfall deficiency in the state, the claim of 41 per cent would have been a great comfort.
However, the state agriculture department has a completely different view.
“The irrigation coverage in the state is in the range of 13-15 per cent. While the irrigation department says 15 per cent based on its dams and canals, the agriculture department counts it as 13 per cent based on the assured irrigation,” said Dr Subhash Singh, Joint Director, Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Co-operative.
Singh further said that while the state’s total cultivable land is 29 lakh hectares, actual cultivation takes place only in 24 lakh hectares (during kharif season) as Jharkhand is mostly dependent on rain. In Rabi, the area of cultivated land goes down to 12-13 lakh hectares.
“Earlier, the state had a fallow land development program where we used to support the farmers in sowing and provided them with seeds but it could not succeed as the farmers wanted the dependency to continue,” said Singh, hinting at the fact that entire 29 lakh hectares of cultivable land can be provided with irrigation coverage.
Supporting the view of the agriculture department is the Birsa Agricultural University’s Research Director Dr SK Pal. He said, “Irrigation coverage in Jharkhand is 18 per cent of the total cultivable land. However, in reality it is in the range of 12-15 per cent.”
Pal said that while the Jharkhand government is making efforts to increase the irrigation coverage but it has not done enough. He said that there are other limitations as well.
“Water resources in Jharkhand are limited. Most of the rivers here are seasonal and the groundwater has gone down at many places. Besides, investment in irrigation has been very less in Jharkhand as compared to states like Punjab and Haryana,” Pal said.
Speaking about the hurdles faced by the water resources department in setting up the network of major and minor irrigation projects, Chief Engineer Pingua said that all the lift irrigation systems in the state, operational during undivided Bihar, are currently defunct.
“We are trying to get these on track with the use of solar pumps. In case of major irrigation schemes, the main hurdles are forest clearance and rehabilitation. So, instead of open canals we are now focusing on laying underground pipeline distribution for which work has been awarded,” said Pingua.
Of the 10 lakh hectares of cultivable land with irrigation facility, minor irrigation accounts for seven lakh hectares and major irrigation takes care of three lakh hectares, said the Chief Engineer, adding that the Water Resources Department has a budget of Rs 1,400 crore for fiscal 2022-23.
