Hoshiarpur, Apr 30 (PTI) Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said on Wednesday that thousands of farmers in the state's Kandi region are now receiving canal water for irrigation after a "drought-like wait" of nearly four decades.

Goyal said that in numerous areas, farmers who had abandoned hope are now receiving canal water after nearly 40 years.

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The minister said the Kandi canal network has a capacity of 463 cusecs and extends 129 km from Talwara to Balachaur.

Although construction from Talwara to Hoshiarpur was completed in 1998 and stage 2 from Hoshiarpur to Balachaur in 2016, the infrastructure had deteriorated substantially, causing persistent leakage and seepage issues that prevented water from reaching its full capacity, he pointed out.

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The minister said the government prioritised this project and invested approximately Rs 239 crore in the canal network to ensure water reaches tail-end areas.

"Today, water flows from Talwara to Balachaur-reaching the furthest points after nearly 40 years-benefiting 433 villages across Hoshiarpur and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts and irrigating 125,000 acres across Dasuya, Mukerian, Tanda-Urmar, Sham Churasi, Hoshiarpur, Chabbewal, Garhshankar and Balachaur," he said.

Goyal further revealed that five previously deteriorated lift schemes on this canal, which were designed to provide water to elevated areas, have been completely overhauled at a cost of Rs 34 crore, including their distribution systems.

These revitalised lift schemes now serve 38 villages with approximately 11,576 acres of previously rain-dependent land, he said.

Also, five new lift schemes have been installed for Rs 11.62 crore, irrigating around 1,500 additional acres, stated the minister.

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