LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched 146 projects related to irrigation and flood control and laid the foundation stone for another 170 projects on Wednesday.
During the virtual ceremony, the CM hit out at previous governments, saying that they used to take flood prevention measures just before the rainy season which had no impact on the severity of flooding or on the people’s life. “Nobody should worry about floods in the state anymore as our government is taking timely action to prevent mishaps. We are working in a planned manner to get rid of flood menace permanently. Continuous efforts are being made to ensure that lives are not lost during floods and also to increase the irrigation potential of fields,” he said and added that the projects, which were started in January, are slated to be completed by May.
Jal Shakti minister Mahendra Singh said that in 2013, 15-lakh hectare land was affected by floods, but because of actions taken by Yogi government, only 12,000-hectare area was affected in 2020.
“The department completed 74 projects in 2017-18, 111 projects in 2018-19 and 151 projects in 2019-20. It worked continuously during the Covid-19 pandemic and as a result, we have managed to launch 146 projects,” Singh said.
An official said that in 2017 24 districts had been rated ‘very sensitive’ to flooding, while 16 districts were in the ‘sensitive’ category but there were no dedicated plans for these areas. “Our government carried out some innovative experiments, targeting these specific districts. Dredging and channelization of rivers was done by creating a systematic action plan,” the CM said.
He has directed district magistrates to invite tenders for the silt and sand that has been taken out through dredging and cleaning of rivers and canals. The amount received from this should be deposited in the mining fund and will be used for works of public interest, the CM added.
The CM also interacted with villagers from those districts where the department has carried out work. Those from the villages of Balrampur, Gorakhpur, Mathura, Siddharthnagar, Deoria and Kushinagar said that the dredging works, repair of the embankments and boulders works have been done satisfactorily. The CM also asked public representatives and locals to monitor works and report to the concerned department and officials if anomalies were found.