PM Narendra Modi set to open Saryu Canal national project in Balrampur

 The mega irrigation project is envisaged to benefit 50 lakh farmers in eastern UP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to inaugurate the Saryu Canal national project in Balrampur on Saturday, which is envisaged to benefit 50 lakh farmers in eastern UP.

The project is aimed at resolving irrigation issues and will tackle floods in various districts of Purvanchal. It is now seeing the light of the day after a gap of nearly four and a half decades, said a spokesperson of the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government.

Explaining the benefits of the project, the spokesperson said it will enable farmers to have two crops instead of one since water resource will be available in “abundance” as it will tackle the problem of floods. There will be a fair crop bonus for farmers in areas with two crops. The farmland of the entire region will be rejuvenated with the commissioning of the project, the spokesperson said.

The Yogi government is showcasing the project as an example of what the “double-engine government” of the BJP, in the state and at the Centre, has done for farmers of UP. Adityanath had reviewed the Rs 500-crore project in October 2018 and had directed officials to review the progress of the work every week.

The government says that the project will facilitate irrigation of 14.04 lakh hectares of arable land and will offer a permanent solution to the problem of floods in certain areas of Purvanchal by linking main and tributary canals to the barrages built on rivers Ghaghra, Saryu, Rapti, Banganga and Rohin. The barrages include Girija, Saryu, Rapti, and Wanganga.

The project will have a canal network with total length of 6,590 km covering Saryu Main Canal, Rapti Main Canal and Gola Pump Canal, Dumariaganj Pump Canal, Ayodhya Pump Canal and Utraula Pump Canal.

It is also said that the project would link Ghaghra, Saryu, Rapti, Banganga and Rohin rivers in future, which would, it is claimed, mostly resolve the perennial problem of floods affecting the nine districts.

Elaborating on the project, a statement issued by the government said, a 17.035 km long Saryu tributary canal with the capacity of 360 cusec has been taken out from the left bank of Girjapuri barrage constructed on Ghaghra river in Bahraich, which will bring water to the upstream right bank of the Saryu barrage built on the Saryu river. Similarly, a 63.15 km Saryu canal with 360 cusec capacity has been taken out from the left bank of the Saryu barrage.

The statement also said that the Imamganj branch of canal has been taken out about 21.4 km right from the Saryu main canal and that the tributary Rapti canal with a length of 21.4 km has been constructed 34.70 km away from the left bank of the Saryu main canal. It would provide water to the Rapti river upstream of the Rapti barrage and will be used for 125.682 km long Rapti main canal.

Two branch systems, Basti and Gonda, have been taken out 63.150 km away from Saryu main canal. This will help irrigate 4.20 lakh hectares of land in Basti and 3.96 lakh hectares in Gonda, the government statement said. The irrigation facility would be provided in 3.27 lakh hectare area between the Rapti main canal tail and the Campierganj branch Rapti main canal system. The construction of the Rapti main canal on the left bank of the Rapti barrage being built near Laxmanpur Kothi in Shravasti is in progress. Its total length is 125.682 km. Eight-metre wide service roads will be built on both sides of this canal, which will lead to Shravasti, Balrampur and Siddharthnagar, the statement added.