Narmada canal broke 100 times in last two years

The Narmada canal broke 100 times during the last two years in Banaskanta district of North Gujarat, the state government said on Thursday.

Between 2019 and 2020, the total number of incidents where the canal broke in the district rose by 43 per cent, the government stated in a written reply to a question asked by Congress MLA Gulabsinh Rajput during the Question Hour. The government said there were 41 incidents where the canal broke in 2019, while in 2020, the incidents rose to 59.

In 72 cases, the cost of repairing the canal was recovered from 10 contractors. The highest number of such recovery (30 cases) was from Jalaram Project Pvt Ltd, the government stated. The firm was also fined in six cases. In 13 cases, where farmers suffered crop loss a total of Rs 2.42 lakh was given as compensation.

In response to a different question asked by Congress MLA Ritvik Makwana about the status of construction of Narmada canals, the government stated that 7,729 kilometers of canal network was yet to be built. The government also said that a total of 62,099 kilometers of canal network has been completed.