Major and Minor Irrigation Projects of Uttar Pradesh | Course for UPPSC Preparation - UPPSC (UP) PDF Download

Major Irrigation Projects of Uttar Pradesh

• It is a joint project of 5 states namely, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. This barrage has been constructed in 1872 in Saharanpur on Yamuna river.
• Due to destruction by heavy flood of 1978, the Central Government planned a pact among these 5 states on the demand of Yamuna river water on 12th May, 1999.
• Thus, construction of a new Hathnikund barrage was start in the year 1994 and completed in 1999.
• It was renamed as New Tajewalan Barrage or Tajewalan Barrage Renuvation Project. This Eastern Yamuna Canal System irrigates the fields of Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Meerut and Ghaziabad.

Kanhar Irrigation Project.

• This project is under construction which was proposed to built in the year 1976. It is an Earth filled dam which is constructed on Kanhar river, a tributary of Son river in Sonbhadra district.
• Its water will be used for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar state for the drinking water and irrigation purposes. A canal is being constructed on this dam.

Bansagar Dam Project

• It is a joint project among the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
• It was constructed in 1978 on Son river in Shahdol of Madhya Pradesh. Its water is used for irrigation purpose in Allahabad (Prayagraj) and Mirzapur districts of Uttar Pradesh.
• The dam is about 1,020 m long and 67 m high and the total length of this canal is 171 km.
• In 2014, this project was included in the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana. From July 2018, the project has become a national project.

Agra Barrage Project

• This project was started in 1993 and it is still in progress. The barrage is constructed near Taj Mahal in Agra on Yamuna river.
• The aim of this project is to provide water to Agra for drinking and irrigation purposes.

Rajghat Dam Project

• It is a joint project of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The dam is being built on Betwa river in Lalitpur district in Uttar Pradesh, through which two canals will be constructed.
• The name of this project has been changed as Rani Laxmi Bai Project.

Budaun Irrigation Project

• Nearly, 37,453 hectare land of Bareilly and Badaun is irrigated by this project. Under this project a 617 m long barrage has been constructed on Ramganga river in Bareilly district.
• Its construction was started in 2012 and it is still in progress.

Rihand Valley Project

• This project is constructed at Pipari in Sonbhadra district on river Rihand.
• Rihand dam is also known as ‘Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar’.
• Nearly, 40 lakh acre land of Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Allahabad and Varanasi district is irrigated from this project.

Gokul Barrage Project

• This project has been constructed to provide water for drinking and irrigation purposes to Agra and Mathura districts.
• The barrage is constructed on Yamuna river near Gokul town in Mathura district.

Luv-Kush Barrage Project

• This barrage is constructed on Ganga river in Kanpur. The aim of this project is to provide sufficient water for drinking and irrigation purposes to Kanpur city.

Gangajal Project

• Through this project, Noida and Ghaziabad will get adequate water supply for drinking and irrigation purposes.
• The project is being constructed near Noida-Delhi bypass. To overview the functions of Ganga Project the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) was set up in 2009 under Section 3 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.

Banganga Project

• In this project, barrage has been constructed on river Banganga near Shohratgarh in Basti district on which a 45 km long canal is constructed.
• Nearly, 23 thousand acre land of Basti district is irrigated from it.

Kanhar Irrigation Project

• The project is located on the confluence of river Pagan with river Kanhar near village Sugawan of Sonbhadra district.
• The project proposes a 3.003 km long earthen dam having a maximum height of 39.90 and a canal is also constructed on it.

Minor Irrigation Projects in Uttar Pradesh

• Free of Cost Boring Scheme 
  This scheme is working in the state from the year 1985 for small, marginal and SC/ST farmers. The State Government provides grant of ₹ 5,000, 7,000 or 10,000 to farmers. About 30 m depth free of cost boring is done in this scheme. In 2012-13, a modification has been done in this scheme due to which 25% beneficiaries will get 30 to 60 m HDPE pipe irrigation system of 90 mm diameter i.e. 50% of the cost, with maximum grant of ₹ 3,000. This grant will be given to small and marginal farmers of all categories.
• Scheme of Medium Deep Tube-wells 
  This scheme has been started in May, 2004. Under this scheme, 50% of the cost i.e. maximum ₹ 7,500 grant is paid for boring medium deep tubewells to the farmers. Under this scheme, 31 m to 60 m deep boring is done. 
• Scheme for the Construction of Check Dams for Rain Water Use and Groundwater Recharging
  This scheme was started in 2008-09. It was started with a view to use rainwater for irrigation and recharging groundwater. Thus the construction of check dam cum ramp has been undertaken in the plateau/table land areas like in Bundelkhand area. 
• Community Blast Well Project 
  It was started in 2011-12 in 39 plateau and semi-plateau blocks of 8 districts of Uttar Pradesh namely, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Chitrakoot, Allahabad (Prayagraj), Mirzapur, Sonbhadra and Chandauli. It covered small and marginal farmers of the state. It is implemented in those areas where free of cost boring is not possible. The diameter of community blast well is 8 m and its depth is 15 m. 
• Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Community Tube Well Scheme 
  This scheme was started in November, 2012. It is implemented throughout for such hard and depth strata areas i.e. of Alluvial area (leaving highly extracted/exploited category of development block) where either free of cost boring is not possible or where boring increases more than the depth of 30 meter. 
• Scheme for Surface Pump Set 
  This scheme has been started with a reason of boring job being difficult in all the districts of Bundelkhand and cross Yamuna plateaus/table land districts namely Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Chandauli and Allahabad (Prayagraj). Thus, under this scheme, a grant-in-aid is approved for the installation of pump set for irrigation from natural surface water sources. Under this scheme, general small farmers will get ₹ 4,500, general marginal farmers will get ₹ 6,000 and farmers of SC/ST will get ₹ 9,000 grant-in-aid. 
• Scheme of Boring in Plateau Areas/Table Land by In well Ring Machines 
  Under this scheme, grant of 50% of the real cost for in well-ring machine boring for the construction of tube well is approved only in those plateau areas of Jhansi, Lalitpur and Chitra koot where tube wells by hand boring set is not possible to construct. The depth of this boring is 60 m. 
• Artesian Well Project/Scheme 
  Artesian wells are dug in Madigaon block of Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh. Under this scheme, 50% of the cost i.e. maximum ₹ 5,000 grant is paid for handset artesian wells and 50% of the cost i.e. maximum ₹ 15,000 grant is paid for mechanised artesian wells.

Drinking Water Projects in Uttar Pradesh

• Gokul Barrage Project - This project is started by constructing barrage near Gokul on river Yamuna. It is of 5 m deep storage to store rain water. Districts like Mathura and Agra are benefitted by this barrage. 
• Ganga Water Project - This project has 50 cuses storage capacity and was constructed near Pratap Vihar in Ghaziabad. The project supplies water to Noida, trans-Hindon areas of Ghaziabad and Delhi. 
• Luv-Kush Barrage - This barrage lies on the river Ganges in Kanpur. It is also called Ganga barrage. The only objective of this barrage is providing drinking water to Kanpur city. 
• Agra Barrage - This barrage is constructed to provide drinking water to Agra. It is constructed on river Yamuna which is 8 km far from the famous Taj Mahal.