Lucknow, 21 February: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the renovation and reconstruction drive of 25,050 bridges and culverts built on the canals of the Department of Irrigation and Water Resources under the Water Power Department at his government residence on Sunday.
During this, the Chief Minister said that in order to make the life of common people simple and easy, the irrigation department should complete the renovation and reconstruction work of all 25,050 bridges and culverts within 100 days by working in mission mode as per standard quality.
The Chief Minister said that in the next phase, keeping in view the need and utility of the irrigation department, the tracks of the canal should be marked and prepared for traffic. They are secured when the canal tracks are connected to traffic. Also, their maintenance is also possible easily.
He said that about 70,000 bridges and culverts are built on the canals in the state. Out of these, restoration of 21,542 bridges and culverts and 3,508 culverts will be reconstructed. In the current financial year 2020-2021, the department has arranged funds for the related damaged bridges and culverts. Funds will also be proposed in the coming year 2021-2022.
The Chief Minister said that the cultivable area of โโthe state is 188 lakh hectares. Irrigation capacity has been created in an area of โโ120 lakh hectares. The length of canals in the state is 74,659 km, the number of tube wells is 34,401 and the number of pump canals is 278.
Yogi further said that the main canal systems in the state are more than 100 rains old. The Eastern Yamuna Canal System is about 190 years old, Upper Ganga Canal System 166 years, Lower Ganga Canal System 142 years, Betwa and Cane Canal System 135 years, Dhasan Canal System 113 years and Sharda Canal System 92 years old. Bridges and culverts were built on these according to old techniques and requirements.
In view of the increasing number and load of vehicles in the past rains, the state government is renovating and renovating the bridges and culverts built on the canals in the interest of the common people and farmers.
The Chief Minister said that various irrigation projects including Saryu Canal Project, Madhya Ganga Canal Project are being completed rapidly by the State Government.
Stressing that the quality of irrigation, projects should be completed as per standard and within the stipulated time frame, he said that the construction of these projects will increase agricultural irrigation potential in the state. Also, a large number of farmers will be benefited. Stressing the need to connect farmers with modern technology, he said that farmers should be made aware and motivated to adopt new methods of irrigation through interdepartmental coordination.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister interacted with the people’s representatives of the districts of Prayagraj, Pratapgarh, Ayodhya, Agra, Jalaun, Rampur, Mathura, Ballia etc. through video conferencing. He said that bridges and culverts are the backbone of rural economy. With this, people including farmers have great convenience in movement.
The public representatives praised the Chief Minister, saying that the renovation and reconstruction work of such a large number of bridges and culverts as a campaign was historic.
The Chief Minister said that the people’s representatives should cooperate in completion of quality and time limits by inspecting the renovation and reconstruction works of the bridges and culverts.
Stateโs Jal Shakti Minister Mahendra Singh said that under the leadership of the Chief Minister, the state is changing rapidly and moving forward. Development works are being done without discrimination under his guidance. In 70 districts of the state, bridges and culverts built on canals are being renovated, rebuilt and renovated. All the people including farmers will benefit from these construction works.
