The
irrigation potential (cumulative) created in the country has been increasing
over the years. The irrigation potential created upto
the beginning of the First Five Year Plan was about 22.6 million hectares which
increased to about 102.7 million hectares at the end of the X Plan. Creation of
irrigation potential of about 5.5 million hectares has been reported during the
first 3 years of the XI Plan i.e. during 2007-08 to 2009-10. However, during
the Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97) there was relatively lesser rate of
creation of irrigation potential as compared to the VIIth
Plan. One of the reasons for this decline was that a large number of river
valley projects, both multi-purpose and irrigation, spilled over from plan to
plan period, mainly because of financial constraints being faced by the State
Governments. Government of India therefore introduced the Accelerated Irrigation
Benefits Programme (AIBP) in the year 1996 with a
view to providing financial assistance to States to complete various ongoing
irrigation projects in the country. Since its formulation, the terms of the programme have been widened and liberalized over time.
Government of India also provides assistance to the State
Governments under the schemes “Repair Renovation and
Restoration of Water Bodies” and “Command Area Development and Water Management”
with the objective of stabilization and full utilization of created facilities. The rate of creation of irrigation potential in successive
Plans is indicates
in the following table.
|
Plan
|
Irrigation
Potential Created in million hectare per year
|
|
VII Plan (1985-1990)
|
2.26
|
|
Annual Plans (1990-1992)
|
2.28
|
|
VIII Plan (1992-1997)
|
1.03
|
|
IX Plan (1997-2002)
|
1.54
|
|
X Plan (2002-2007)
|
1.76
|
|
XI
Plan (first three years
i.e. from 2007-2010)
|
1.84
|
This information
was given by the Minister of State for Water Resources, Shri Vincent H. Pala in a written
reply in the Rajya Sabha
today.
SK/sk