Moga admn uses 34L litres of pond water to irrigate paddy in 5 villages
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service
Faridkot, August 19
Moga, which until now was “infamous” for high exploitation of groundwater with all of its five blocks categorised as “over exploited” and declared as dark zones, has created a path for others to follow by rejuvenating ponds and drawing water for irrigating crops.
In the last two weeks, the Department of Soil and Water Conservation installed solar-powered motor pumps and laid a 10-km pipeline at a cost of Rs 1.8 crore with funds received from the NITI Aayog to use 34 lakh litres of pond water for irrigating paddy crop in five villages — Khosa Pando, Dalleke, Maur Nou Abad, Patto Jawahar Singh and Noorpur Hakima.
Moga DC Kulwant Singh said, “Earlier, the pond water used to overflow on the streets and often resulted in the outbreak of water-borne diseases. Now, due to rejuvenation of ponds in rural areas and installation of solar-powered pumps, the pond water is being used for irrigation. This in turn saves the groundwater.” He said the farmers had benefited to great extent and a central team had asked to set up similar projects in other villages.
“The Central Ground Water Board categorised five blocks of Moga district as dark zones. The groundwater level is falling at an average of 49 centimetres every year in these blocks. Thus, it’s important to check the falling water level,” said the DC. With this project, an additional irrigation facility had been provided for 565 acres in these villages, said Kulwant, adding that the pond water contains several beneficial elements, which reduces the use of fertilisers.
