{"id":58244,"date":"2026-01-07T16:58:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T11:28:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/?p=58244"},"modified":"2026-01-07T18:42:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:12:19","slug":"bhagwant-singh-mann-govt-ends-four-decade-irrigation-drought-in-kandi-belt-canal-water-reaches-tail-end-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/punjab\/bhagwant-singh-mann-govt-ends-four-decade-irrigation-drought-in-kandi-belt-canal-water-reaches-tail-end-farms\/","title":{"rendered":"Bhagwant Singh Mann Govt ends four-decade irrigation drought in Kandi belt, canal water reaches tail-end farms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Punjab News:<\/span> Ending a four-decade-long irrigation drought in Punjab\u2019s Kandi belt, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led government has successfully restored canal water supply to tail-end farms, bringing long-awaited relief to farmers in the hilly and drought-prone region. With the completion of a \u20b9238.90 crore revamp of the Kandi Canal system, canal irrigation has now reached 433 villages and is covering 1.25 lakh acres of agricultural land across the Kandi area, marking a decisive turnaround in Punjab\u2019s irrigation landscape.<\/p>\n<p>Sharing details of the achievement, Water Resources and Soil &amp; Water Conservation Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said the Mann government has made irrigation revival a governance priority and backed it with unprecedented financial commitment. \u201cFrom 2022 to 2025, the Punjab government has invested over \u20b94,557 crore in canal irrigation, which is nearly two-and-a-half times more than the \u20b92,046 crore spent by the previous Congress government between 2019 and 2022,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting the impact on farmers, the Water Resources and Soil &amp; Water Conservation Minister said that the results are now visible on the ground. \u201cIn numerous areas, farmers who had abandoned hope are now receiving canal water after nearly 40 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He explained that the Kandi Canal network, with a carrying capacity of 463 cusecs and a total length of 129.035 kilometres from Talwara to Balachaur, had suffered severe deterioration over the years. He said that although construction from Talwara to Hoshiarpur was completed in 1998 and Stage-2 from Hoshiarpur to Balachaur in 2016, widespread leakage and seepage had prevented water from reaching tail-end areas. \u201cThe Bhagwant Singh Mann government prioritised this long-pending issue and invested \u20b9238.90 crore to ensure that canal water now flows from Talwara to Balachaur, reaching the furthest points after nearly four decades,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal stated that the revived canal system is now benefiting 433 villages across Hoshiarpur and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts and irrigating 1.25 lakh acres of agricultural land in Dasuya, Mukerian, Tanda-Urmar, Sham Churasi, Hoshiarpur, Chabbewal, Garhshankar and Balachaur.<\/p>\n<p>Detailing the works undertaken under Kandi Canal Stage-1, the Minister said, \u201cConcrete lining from Talwara to Hoshiarpur has been completed at a cost of \u20b9120 crore.\u201d He added that to further optimize canal performance, the government restored earthen watercourses and rejuvenated 11 distributaries spanning 61 kilometres, benefiting 203 villages in Hoshiarpur district and covering 28,500 acres. He also informed that a \u20b958.78 crore underground pipeline distribution project covering 417.52 kilometres is scheduled to be completed this month.<\/p>\n<p>Referring to Kandi Canal Stage-2 between Hoshiarpur and Balachaur, Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said that six flow distributaries extending approximately 42 kilometres have been restored. \u201cThese works are providing irrigation facilities to 72 villages across Hoshiarpur and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts and covering 18,800 acres of agricultural land,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Minister further revealed that five previously deteriorated lift schemes on the canal, designed to provide water to elevated areas, have been completely overhauled at a cost of \u20b934 crore, including their distribution systems. \u201cThese revitalised lift schemes are now serving 38 villages and irrigating around 11,576 acres of land that was earlier dependent entirely on rainfall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting new initiatives, Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said the Bhagwant Singh Mann government has also installed five new lift schemes at a cost of \u20b911.62 crore, irrigating an additional 1,500 acres. He added that to raise groundwater levels, recharge structures have been constructed over five defunct government tubewells at a cost of \u20b920 lakh, while 24 ponds have been developed with an expenditure of \u20b95.16 crore and are being periodically replenished with canal water.<\/p>\n<p>In a significant environmental intervention, the Minister said that 18 seasonal streams, or choes, have been connected to the canal network at a cost of \u20b94.18 crore, allowing controlled release of canal water to enhance groundwater recharge. He also underlined that canal water is now being supplied to industrial units. \u201cThis step is reducing groundwater extraction while also generating supplementary revenue for the state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal further said that 13 low-earthen dams on various streams in Hoshiarpur and S.A.S. Nagar districts have been restored after underground pipe distribution systems had deteriorated over time. \u201cThe government has invested \u20b911.50 crore to revive these systems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Referring to future works, the Minister said that the Kathgarh lift scheme is being executed in three phases. He said, \u201cPhase one will be operational next month and will provide canal water to about 5,000 acres in villages including Kathgarh, Malewal, Baghowal, Paniali Kalan, Paniali Khurd, Surapur, Chahal, Sudha Majra, Kamalpur, Tandoh and Bachwan.\u201d He added that phase two and phase three will be made operational next year and will extend irrigation facilities to an additional 9,000 acres in villages such as Kolar, Balowal, Saunkri, Sudha Majra, Majra Jattan and Taunsa.<\/p>\n<p>He also said that the department is systematically replacing deep tubewells with lift irrigation schemes to supply canal water to areas that were earlier dependent on groundwater. \u201cThis approach will significantly reduce pressure on Punjab\u2019s fast-depleting groundwater resources,\u201d Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said.<\/p>\n<p>With canal water finally reaching the tail-end of the Kandi belt after four decades, the Bhagwant Singh Mann-led government has delivered a long-overdue correction in Punjab\u2019s irrigation system, reinforcing its commitment to farmers, water security and sustainable agriculture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Punjab News: Ending a four-decade-long irrigation drought in Punjab\u2019s Kandi belt, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led government has successfully restored canal water supply to tail-end farms, bringing long-awaited relief to farmers in the hilly and drought-prone region. With the completion of a \u20b9238.90 crore revamp of the Kandi Canal system, canal irrigation has now [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":32655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-punjab"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bhagwant Singh Mann Govt ends four-decade irrigation drought in Kandi belt, canal water reaches tail-end farms - PunjabENews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/punjab\/bhagwant-singh-mann-govt-ends-four-decade-irrigation-drought-in-kandi-belt-canal-water-reaches-tail-end-farms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bhagwant Singh Mann Govt ends four-decade irrigation drought in Kandi belt, canal water reaches tail-end farms - PunjabENews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Punjab News: Ending a four-decade-long irrigation drought in Punjab\u2019s Kandi belt, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led government has successfully restored canal water supply to tail-end farms, bringing long-awaited relief to farmers in the hilly and drought-prone region. With the completion of a \u20b9238.90 crore revamp of the Kandi Canal system, canal irrigation has now [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/punjab\/bhagwant-singh-mann-govt-ends-four-decade-irrigation-drought-in-kandi-belt-canal-water-reaches-tail-end-farms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PunjabENews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-07T11:28:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-07T13:12:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Minister-Barinder-Kumar-Goyal-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"936\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"punjabenews19\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"punjabenews19\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/punjab\/bhagwant-singh-mann-govt-ends-four-decade-irrigation-drought-in-kandi-belt-canal-water-reaches-tail-end-farms\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/punjabenews.com\/English\/punjab\/bhagwant-singh-mann-govt-ends-four-decade-irrigation-drought-in-kandi-belt-canal-water-reaches-tail-end-farms\/\",\"name\":\"Bhagwant Singh Mann Govt ends four-decade irrigation drought in Kandi belt, canal water reaches tail-end farms - 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