Bhopal, Oct 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Saturday inaugurated a Rs 2,387.60-crore micro-lift irrigation project in Dhar district that will bring 57,422 hectares of farmland across 260 villages in Dhar and Jhabua districts under irrigation, benefiting around 72,000 farmers. The Narmada-Jhabua-Petlawad-Thandla-Sardarpur project is aimed at improving irrigation facilities and agricultural productivity in the two districts by supplying water from the Narmada River through an underground pipeline network.
Under the project, water will be lifted from the Narmada at Chandan Khedi village in Kukshi tehsil and released into the Mahi River. The scheme will cover 25,422 hectares across 66 villages in Dhar district and 32,000 hectares across 194 villages in Jhabua district.
The pipeline system will supply pressurised water to agricultural plots, enabling farmers to use sprinkler and drip irrigation methods. The system is expected to reduce water consumption and eliminate the need for levelling fields.
Inaugurating the project, Yadav said the state government had set a target of bringing 100 lakh hectares of agricultural land under irrigation, with the coverage reaching 60 lakh hectares over the past two-and-a-half years.
"By 2002-03, only 7.5 lakh hectares of land in the state was irrigated. The area increased to 40 lakh hectares by 2023 and has now reached 60 lakh hectares in the past two-and-a-half years. We have set a target of bringing 100 lakh hectares under irrigation," he said.
"Farmers' prosperity is our objective. When water reaches dry fields, their crops begin to shine like gold," the Chief Minister added.
The project envisages lifting 186.62 million cubic metres of water and will require 102.30 megawatts of electricity. On the occasion, Yadav transferred Rs 317.86 crore in crop insurance claims for the 2025-26 rabi season to the bank accounts of 16.70 lakh farmers ahead of Diwali.
He also highlighted the employment potential of the PM MITRA textile park in Dhar, saying it would benefit around six lakh cotton-growing farmers in the Nimar-Malwa region and create employment opportunities for three lakh people.
Yadav inaugurated additional development works worth Rs 188 crore and laid the foundation stones for 35 projects, including school and ITI buildings and development work at the Amka-Jhamka Mata temple.
He said villages left out of the irrigation project would also be included and that Dhar would soon get a medical college.
Source: IANS
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