MillenniumPost
Bengal

51 enclaves to get solar-based water pumping units for agriculture

Rabindranath Ghosh, North Bengal Development minister, said the step is aimed to make the people residing in the enclaves self dependent. The project is a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the state irrigation department has taken necessary initiatives to let people get benefitted as early as possible. 

The most effective part of the project is that the residents of the area will not have to pay a single penny to channelise water for irrigation purpose as they will continue using the solar power run unit even when there will be uninterrupted supply of the conventional form of power. 

“Farmers in the state need to pay a good amount of money for consuming power to run portable pumps to channelise water from canals in their agricultural land. But residents of the enclaves will not have any headache of paying any bill as there will be no question of using the conventional form of power,” said Ghosh adding that it will give a relief to farmers in the area and it will boost up their confidence in taking steps for higher yield and better quality crops. 

It will result to an augmentation of their profit which is quite essential to bring an improvement in their standard of living. 

In phase-I, a total of 212 units will be set up in the enclaves, which came into the Indian territory a year ago. 

Each of the units, that cost around Rs 9 lakh, has the capacity of channelising water on 80 to 100 bighas of land. Thus with the completion of only phase-I of the project 6360 families will get benefitted. 

According to Ghosh, setting up of the units is soon going to bring a sea change in the lives of the enclave dwellers.

The reason being that besides channelizing water to agricultural land, they can also fill up small plots of low lands in the area using the units to initiate pisciculture.  The units will be set up in such locations that most people can utilise each of the units.

In summer, the solar units will be of immense help as the power distribution companies will also not have to worry about excessive consumption of the conventional form of power to run portable pumps as it happens in some other parts of the state. 

Ghosh said that people residing in areas adjacent to the enclaves will also be benefitted as water channelised using the units will also be used for cultivation of crops in their plots.  Steps have also been taken for the fast completion of the projects that have been taken up for an overall development of the region.

Construction of roads and culverts at various places in the enclaves are going on in full swing and following the Chief Minister’s directions, steps have been taken to expedite the development work.

Highlights

The step is aimed to make the people residing in the enclaves self dependent

The most effective part of the project is that the residents of the area will not have to pay a single penny to channelise water for irrigation purpose as they will continue using the solar power run unit even when there will be uninterrupted supply of the conventional form of power

In phase-I, a total of 212 units will be set up in the enclaves. Each of the units, that cost around Rs 9 lakh, has the capacity of channelising water on 80 to 100 bighas of land

With the completion of only phase-I of the project 6360 families will get benefitted  they can also fill up small plots of low lands in the area using the units to initiate pisciculture

The units will be set up in such locations that most people can utilise each of the units

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