Drive against encroachments on irrigation canals a regular exercise: Javed Rana

Jammu : Minister for Jal Shakti, Javed Ahmed Rana, on Friday informed the House that the department undertakes coordinated action with the District Administration to remove encroachments from irrigation canals in Bijbehara.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by MLA, Basheer Ahmad Veeri. The Minister stated that anti-encroachment drive is a continuous process and a total of 39 notices have been served to the general public during the year 2024-25. It further informed that 700 trees have been removed from the Nandi canal.
Regarding desilting and dredging, the Minister said that it is a routine process which is being conducted before onset of the irrigation season under the Convergence programme.
He further informed the House that the Irrigation network in the Srigufwara Bijbehara Constituency relies on the Nandi and Dubji Canals. These canals have leakages and embankment breaches, which are immediately acted upon and encroachments are removed as and when reported.