In view of the adequate availability of drinking water in the state, barrages on rivers will be constructed on priority. Also, according to the guidelines of the Water Resources and River Revival Authority, the construction of check dams will also be expedited. In this episode, a five-year action plan will be prepared for the construction of barrages and check dams. Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan gave instructions for this in a meeting with the officials of Irrigation, Minor Irrigation and Water Resources and River Revival Authority in the Secretariat on Tuesday. He said that the action plan should be presented with a timeline.
The Chief Secretary took information about the works being done in view of the construction and saturation of barrages, check dams and reservoirs in the meeting. He said that the state has to be saturated with barrages and check dams. For making check dams, attention should also be paid to the treatment of water storage areas and water sources. Check dams can be effective in improving the groundwater level as well as preventing incidents like Dharali in monsoon. The Chief Secretary said that a list of barrages and check dams should be prepared and priority should be given to their construction. In this also, drinking water and irrigation schemes should be given priority. He directed the authority to work continuously for groundwater recharge in urban areas. He also stressed on adopting bio-friendly technology. The Chief Secretary also directed to speed up the construction of reservoirs. He also asked the Irrigation Secretary to do a weekly review with a view to speed up the construction of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee reservoir. He directed to complete the Satpuli barrage of Pauri district soon and to start the work of construction of the proposed Khairana barrage in Nainital soon. Secretary Dilip Jawalkar, Jugal Kishore Pant, Additional Secretary Himanshu Khurana and other officials were present in the meeting.
