Chandigarh, June 22 - Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Smt. Shruti Chaudhary said that the department is making active preparations for flood control before the monsoon season. Out of the total 846 drains in the state, 671 drains were planned to be cleaned, with a total length of 4040.23 km. So far, cleaning of 3751.40 km (92.85%) drains has been completed through jhabhathabh, department machinery and e-tendering. The remaining works are also in fast progress and will be completed soon.
She said that in the 56th meeting of the Haryana State Drought Relief and Flood Control Board, which was held under the chairmanship of the Hon'ble Chief Minister, a total of 209 short-term flood control works were approved. Out of these, 12 works have been completed, 175 works are in progress and the target is to complete them by June 30. 8 works are stalled due to farmers' opposition and falling in eco-sensitive zone. The remaining 14 works are related to water conservation and procurement of materials, the procurement process of which is in progress. Temporary arrangements have been made at these places, which will not have any impact on the flood situation. These works will also be completed in 1 week. Along with this, it is estimated that 39.22 lakh cubic meters of silt will be removed from the Tangri river. Out of the work divided into three parts, contracts for two parts have been awarded and the work is in progress. Apart from this, cleaning is also going on in the municipal limits of Kardan, Babiyal and Chandpura villages. So far, about 5.75 lakh cubic meters of silt has been removed, the remaining work will be completed by the target time i.e. June 30, 2025.
A total of 65.47 lakh cubic meters of silt is estimated to be removed in the Markanda river. Tenders were called twice, but no bids were received. After this, tenders were issued again for the primary categories of 58,000 cubic meters. About 60% of the work has been completed in Jhansa, Kalsana, Gumti and Jalbera villages and the remaining work will be completed by the stipulated time. The removed soil is being used for strengthening the embankments and other development works in Ambala and Kurukshetra districts. Repair and strengthening work of all the breach sites in the Tangri and Markanda rivers has also been completed, due to which the possibility of floods in the future has been reduced to a great extent.
Minister Shruti Chaudhary said that the Saraswati river, which flows from Adi Badri (Yamunanagar) to its confluence with the Ghaggar river, is about 100 km long and passes through Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts. It has 8 tributaries with a total length of about 101 km. The internal cleaning work of the Saraswati river and its tributaries is in full swing, in which about 85% of the work has been completed and the remaining work will be completed by June 25, 2025. She said that we are committed to ensuring complete flood protection before the monsoon. Daily reports of this work are being taken from the department.