Question : Unirrigated Land

(a) whether the North-Eastern States including Assam and Haryana have large tracts of unirrigated land and also shortage of irrigation in resources;
(b) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;
(c) whether the Government has chalked-out any action plan to deal with the said situation; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?

Answer given by the minister

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT

(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)

(a) to (d) As per latest information (2016-17) available with Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, State-wise details of net unirrigated area and source-wise irrigated area in North-Eastern States including Assam and Haryana is at Annexure.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was launched during 2015-16 by the Central Government with an overarching vision to ensure access to some means of protective irrigation for all agricultural farms in the country, and to produce ‘Per Drop More Crop’, thus bringing much desired rural prosperity. PMKSY is having following components, Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP), Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP), Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) and Watershed Development (WD).

In Assam, under AIBP there are 3 prioritized projects namely Dhansiri, Champamati & Borolia. Champamati project has been reported to be completed. Under the Scheme, balance eligible Central Assistance (CA) assessed for these projects, as on 01.04.2016, amounts to Rs.9.97 crore. No CA proposal against this amount has been received from the State. State share of Rs.108.10 crore has also been released from NABARD for Dhansiri project during 2020-21. Out of Ultimate Irrigation Potential of 124.93 Thousand Hectare (Th ha), Irrigation Potential of 96.02 Th ha has been reported to be created upto March, 2020. In Manipur, there are 2 projects under 99 prioritized projects of AIBP namely, Thoubal & Dolaithabi Barrage. Dolaithabi Project is reported to be completed. Out of eligible CA of Rs. 251.87 crore, as on 01.04.2016, CA of Rs.204.84 crore has been released during 2016-2020. Further, State has also availed Rs.291.06 crore under Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) from NABARD as State Share during 2016 to till date. Out of Ultimate Irrigation Potential of 36.99 Th ha, Irrigation Potential of 27.29 Th ha has been reported to be created upto March, 2020.
Contd…P/2

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Under HKKP - Command Area Development and Water Management Program, three projects in Assam and two projects in Manipur are included. The targeted Culturable Command Area (CCA) of these projects is 0.6275 lakh Ha. at an estimated cost of Rs.303 crore (with targeted central assistance of Rs.141.00 crore)

Under HKKP - Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI) Schemes, 3845 schemes are included in the North East States with an estimated cost of Rs. 76267 crore. Targeted irrigation potential creation is 572.51 Th ha. CA of Rs.4440.7 crore has been released to states upto March, 2020. During 2020-21, CA of Rs.464.431 crore has already been released. Further, 341.49 Th ha irrigation potential has been created, and 2185 schemes have been reported to be completed.

In the North-Eastern States, under the Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of water bodies scheme, since 2014-15, 13 schemes are included with an estimated cost of Rs.76.87 crore. Targeted irrigation potential restoration is 2293 ha. CA of Rs.39.79 crore has been released to states upto March, 2020. Further, 876 ha irrigation potential has been restored and 8 schemes have been reported to be completed upto March, 2020.

The scheme HKKP - Ground Water Irrigation aims to provide financial assistance to States for assured ground water irrigation to small and marginal farmers. Schemes is applicable only in areas having stage of ground water development less than 60%, average rainfall more than 750 mm rainfall and with shallow ground water levels (less than 15 m bgl). The program is being implemented in the North-Eastern States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura.

Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare (DAC& FW) is implementing PDMC component of PMKSY which is operational from 2015-16 in the country. The PMKSY-Per Drop More Crop mainly focuses on water use efficiency at farm level through precision/micro irrigation.

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) implements Watershed Development Component of PMKSY for development of rainfed /degraded lands. DoLR has sanctioned, 1006 watershed development projects for about 38.99 lakh hectare in North Eastern States. In Haryana, 88 projects covering an area of 3.62 lakh hectare has been sanctioned during the period 2009-10 to 2014-15 under Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP). Since 2009-10, an amount of Rs.2466.64 crore to North Eastern States and Rs.119.51 crore to Haryana has been released as Central share ( as on 27.01.2021).As per information received from the North-Eastern States, since 2014-15 to 2020-21 (upto Q3, 2020), 0.40 lakh water harvesting structures have been created / rejuvenated. An additional area of 1.90 lakh ha has been brought under protective irrigation. The number of farmers benefited is 5.66 lakh during the said period. In Haryana, since 2014-15 to 2020-21 (upto Q3, 2020), 0.04 lakh water harvesting structures have been created / rejuvenated. An additional, area of 0.45 lakh ha has been brought under protective irrigation. The number of farmers benefited is 0.36 lakh during the said period.

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ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) TO (D) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †625 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 04.02.2021 REGARDING “UNIRRIGATED LAND”

State-wise details of net unirrigated area and source-wise irrigated area in North-Eastern States including Assam and Haryana for the year 2016-17
(Unit: Thousand Hectare)
States Net Un-Irrigated Area NET AREA IRRIGATED FROM
Canals Tanks Wells Other Sources
Govern-ment Private Total TubeWells Other Wells
Arunachal Pradesh
178 -- -- -- -- -- -- 54
Assam 2412 92 -- 92 10 74 10 176
Haryana 354 1181 -- 1181 -- 1965 -- 0
Manipur 394 -- -- -- -- -- -- 75
Meghalaya 156 69 28 97 -- -- -- --
Mizoram 129 2 14 16 -- -- -- --
Nagaland 274 -- -- -- -- -- -- 110
Sikkim 61 -- -- -- -- -- -- 16
Tripura 173 7 -- 7 2 6 0 67
Total 4131 1350 42 1392 12 2045 10 498
Note: ''0'' denotes to area less than 500 hectare.
Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.


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