Haryana: Plan to double Mewat feeder canal capacity to meet water needs till 2050

GURGAON: The state government is planning to nearly double the capacity of the proposed Mewat feeder canal. The canal will supply Yamuna water from Sonipat to Gurgaon and Nuh. Officials from the irrigation department said the capacity will be increased from 390 cusecs to 686 cusecs (a rise of 75%) keeping in view water demand of the region till 2050.
The project is estimated to cost Rs 1,000 crore and its detailed project report (DPR) is likely to be ready by June 30.
“The project is being sent to the government for approval of the budget. The canal’s capacity has been augmented so that it can meet water demand for several decades. Work is expected to start by the end of the year. The canal water will be used for drinking and irrigation,” Union minister and Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh said. He held a meeting to review the work being carried out by the irrigation department to meet the region’s water demand on Wednesday.
The project was under consideration for several years. Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had first announced that the government would construct a canal to bring Yamuna water from Sonipat to Nuh in 2019.
An irrigation department official said the canal is important for Nuh as 400 out of 435 villages in the district are facing a water crisis. “Residents of Nuh are mainly dependent on borewells and water channels in the Aravalis, as the groundwater is alkaline and moderate to highly saline in nature, rendering it unfit for consumption or farming,” the official said.
A report by the Central Ground Water Authority too stated that the groundwater in Nuh is saline at all levels in almost 55% of the district. Groundwater in the district is not suitable for drinking due to high levels of salinity, nitrate, iron and lead, while potable water can be found within 30 metres below sea level only in about 30% of the district, it said.
GMDA in December 2022 had chalked out a plan to supply 200 million litres a day (MLD) of recycled water for irrigation. The Rs 435-crore project, which involves constructing a canal to the district, will be executed in coordination with the irrigation department.
As per the plan, recycled water will be supplied from the Behrampur sewage treatment plant (STP) to Karoli village in Nuh through a pipeline. The Behrampur STP has a capacity of 170 MLD, which the GMDA plans to increase by 100 MLD next year. After the augmentation, 200 MLD will be supplied to Nuh through the proposed canal, while the remaining 70 MLD will be supplied to textile units, green belts and parks in the city.