Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, February 5, 2025: Soil and Water Conservation Department Punjab today organized state level inauguration ceremony in Punjab along with national level inauguration of Watershed Yatra at village Sunk Majri, District SAS Nagar to create awareness among common citizens and farmers about watershed development activities under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana – Watershed Vikas Khand.
During this ceremony, live telecast of the launch of national level Watershed Yatra Abhiyan was also shown. Along with this, the department launched state level Watershed Yatra Abhiyan. Apart from the department, officials of Rural Development & Panchayat, Agriculture, Horticulture departments participated in this campaign. Citizens of villages falling under watershed projects of Kandi area, watershed committees and other members, village Sarpanch, Panch and about 250 farmers also participated in this campaign.
This watershed ceremony was presided over by Bhumi Pal Mohali Dr. Sukhwinder Singh who said that the aim of watershed based projects is to bring about comprehensive development of the entire region by adopting a common strategy of multi-resource management. This includes activities ranging from natural resource management to livelihood generation as well as improving agricultural production. He said that under the watershed based program, 7 projects are being implemented in an area of ??28,800 hectares at a total cost of Rs 80.80 crore, which will benefit 157 villages in 5 districts of the state. On this occasion, the officials of the department gave information about the activities of the watershed scheme and inspired to conserve the precious resources of land and water. During this, a street play was also presented depicting the importance of watershed development. During the ceremony, all the people present took an oath regarding land and water conservation and fruit trees were also planted in the village. The projects prepared by the Land and Water Conservation Department under the watershed scheme were handed over to the watershed committee and villagers and the foundation stone of new projects was laid. On this occasion, Mr. Keshav Kumar Divisional Soil Conservation Officer (Engg.) from the head office, Divisional Soil Conservation Officer Mohali Mr. Jatinder Singh, Deputy CEO of Zila Parishad Ranjit Singh, Sub Divisional Soil Conservation Officer Mohali Mrs. Neetu Minhas, Soil Conservation Officer Anil Bana and Amandeep Kaur were present. Apart from this, Agriculture Officer Mrs. Ramanpreet Kaur from Agriculture Department and Horticulture Officer Mrs. Kamalpreet Kaur from Horticulture Department also gave information about the farmer welfare schemes of the Agriculture and Horticulture Department.