Gandhinagar, March 15, 2020
The state government on Thursday acknowledged that construction work of 8,460 km of small distribution canals of the Narmada project has not been done yet while 1,579 km of large canals are still incomplete. In all, 48,319 kilometers of small distribution canals were to be constructed, of which 39,859 kilometers have been completed. . For sub-branch canals, construction of 4,569 km is still pending and work of 4,373 km has been completed. Of the major distribution canals of 15,669 km, 14,089 km are ready. The government has said that this is because the farmers are illegally pulling water from the canals. But, due to violations due to damage to the farmers, the agriculture department compensates them after a survey. The government is releasing water in 5,956.71 kilometers of canals, including main canals and minor distribution canals. The government has also considered that canal work is being delayed due to land acquisition issues and in some places there are public utilities along the way.