HARYANA GOVT TO TAKE FARMERS’ WATERLOGGED LAND ON LEASE

Determined to give peri-urban agriculture a push, the Haryana fisheries department has decided to take on lease the land on which the farmers are unable to carry out farming activities due to water-logging.

Agriculture minister O P Dhankar said on Friday that about 16,000 acres of waterlogged land in Jhajjar and Rohtak districts have already been identified for the purpose.

Speaking at a meeting of the officials of the departments of fisheries, irrigation, development and panchayats, here, he said that more than 4.15 lakh hectares of land in the state was waterlogged. This included 16,000 hectares in 25 and 35 villages of Jhajjar and Charkhi Dadri districts, respectively, where farmers were unable to carry out any farming activity.

It had thus been decided that in the first phase, this area of Jhajjar and Charkhi Dadri would be covered under a pilot project, he said and added that these areas fell in the proximity of Delhi.

The pilot project of the agriculture and farmers’ welfare department would prove to be a milestone on the road to promoting peri-urban agriculture. Dhankar said the fisheries department would take land on lease for five years at the prescribed rates of the panchayat department and the farmers interested in leasing land could inform block development officers concerned. HTC