Hoshiarpur:- Ajnoha Punjab Water Resources and Soil & Water Conservation Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal, while inaugurating various projects here today following the rejuvenation of the Kandi Canal at a cost of approximately 123 crore rupees, announced that the Punjab government will ensure 100% canal water reaches the tails for irrigation.
Starting the Shah Nehar Feeder project, Shah Nehar Canal System, and projects related to Ghogra distributary at Datarpur, Sh. Barinder Kumar Goyal said that the rejuvenation of Kandi Canal will provide major irrigation facilities to farmers in Hoshiarpur and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts. He stated that the completion of Kandi Canal projects has provided irrigation facilities to 1,35,000 acres of land across 450 villages, marking a historic achievement for the government led by Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann. He said that for the first time, 86 percent of the state's canal water is being utilized for irrigation, and water is being successfully delivered to the tails. He remarked that previous governments neglected canals and canal water, with only 26 percent utilization in the past, causing immense hardship to the state's farmers.
Interacting with journalists on the spot, along with MLAs Karamvir Singh Ghuman and Jasbir Singh Raja Gill, the Cabinet Minister explained that out of 22 distributaries under Shah Nehar, many were in a dilapidated state, leaving farmers in those areas deprived of irrigation. To solve this, concrete lining of these distributaries/channels was completed at a cost of over 78 crore rupees, benefiting 60,000 acres in 150 villages. He noted that despite the Kandi Canal’s main construction being completed in July 2016, water never reached the tail at full capacity due to leakage and seepage. To ensure proper supply, a rehabilitation project involving concrete lining was approved and completed in 2023-24. He stated that currently, water is flowing smoothly to the tail up to the 129.035 km mark, and the work on 11 distributaries/minors built 35-40 years ago, which were only supplying 14,000 acres, was completed in 2025. This project is providing irrigation to 28,300 acres of barren land across four constituencies: Mukerian, Dasuya, Urmar Tanda, and Sham Chaurasi.
The Cabinet Minister stated that in 2024-25, the Punjab government completed an 80 crore rupee project to install underground pipelines for the distributary/minor system under the Kandi Canal to provide even better irrigation facilities. He informed that water is now running at its full designed capacity, irrigating 60,000 acres of barren land in 215 villages of Hoshiarpur district. Furthermore, responding to farmer demand, an additional 17 crore rupee pipeline expansion project is underway, which will increase the Culturable Command Area (CCA) by another 8,760 acres. With these improvements, a total of 72,931 acres of barren land across 218 villages in Hoshiarpur and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts will have irrigation access. Currently, 1,35,000 acres across 450 villages are being provided with irrigation facilities.
The Minister detailed that micro-irrigation schemes (sprinkler and drip) have been implemented to save water and reach higher elevations around the Kandi Canal. This provides irrigation to 601 acres for farmers in 12 villages via sprinkler, and 144 acres in 3 villages (Tharoli, Manjhi, and Nara) via drip irrigation, significantly increasing crop yields. To recharge groundwater in Kandi areas, a 20 lakh rupee project to recharge defunct tubewells using canal water via pipes was completed, along with a 5.16 crore rupee project to create ponds in vacant village lands using canal water. Additionally, 18 new escapes/pipe escapes were constructed on various seasonal rivulets (Chos) at a cost of 4.18 crore rupees to recharge land and protect the canal from flood damage.
He added that solar panel systems with a capacity of 2302.5 kW have been installed across various lift and micro-irrigation schemes to deliver water to fields in an energy-efficient manner. Regarding dam desilting, he mentioned that work is currently underway on 6 dams to remove accumulated silt from the catchment areas, which will increase storage capacity, improve irrigation, and boost government revenue.
Villagers and panchayats from various areas thanked the Punjab Government, stating that the state government has achieved a historic feat by delivering canal water to the tails, fulfilling a long-standing demand.