Oppn. flays Haryana’s decision to denotify land for Dadupur-Nalvi canal project.

The Haryana government’s decision to denotify the land acquired for the Dadupur-Nalvi canal project has come under severe criticism from the Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal, which have termed it a “betrayal” of the people of the State.

The Manohar Lal Khattar government had in 2017 decided to scrap the project. The State Cabinet had earlier this week approved the denotification of the land saying the project had become “unfruitful and totally unviable”. The decision did not go down well with the Opposition parties.

INLD leader and spokesperson Praveen Atray on Thursday told The Hindu that the canal was vital for irrigation and recharging of groundwater in three northern districts of Haryana, and scrapping it would adversely hit farmers.

Groundwater recharge

“This canal is important as it is designed to not only irrigate the lands of Yamunanagar, Ambala and Kurukshetra but also recharge the groundwater. By scrapping it, the BJP has shown its indifference to farmers’ plight as north Haryana faces the threat of slipping into water deficiency,” he said. “Farmers will not forgive them [the BJP] and would punish them in the upcoming Assembly polls,” he added.

Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala described the move as “grave injustice, betrayal and deception of the farmers”. Mr. Surjewala said the farmers were facing a bleak future on account of the depleting water level. “The decision has again proved the anti-farmer mindset of the BJP government,” he said.

“It would deprive at least one lakh hectares in 225 villages of Ambala, Yamunanagar and Kurukshetra districts of essential irrigation resources,” he said.

THE HINDU