The Eastern Voice Correspondent

Aurangabad. A review meeting regarding various irrigation and canal restoration schemes under the Water Resources Department was held at the Collectorate office chamber, presided over by the District Magistrate of Aurangabad, Abhilasha Sharma .
During the meeting, a detailed review was conducted of schemes being implemented under the Irrigation Division (Daudnagar), Sone High-Level Canal Division (Aurangabad) and Sone High-Level Canal Division (Tekari).
A point-by-point review was carried out regarding the administrative and technical approvals, work progress, financial expenditure and remaining tasks for a total of 31 schemes.
It was reported that out of the 31 schemes, work on 18 schemes is either complete or in the final stage, work on one scheme is currently in progress and work on 12 schemes could not commence due to various administrative and technical reasons. Issues identified included the non-issuance of scheme codes, work having been previously executed through other schemes, pending outlet construction and work disruptions caused by rainfall or water flow in the canals.
The meeting also highlighted that activities such as canal, distributary and rural drain works, desilting, vegetation clearance and outlet construction and repair are being undertaken through these schemes, with the objective of providing timely irrigation facilities to farmers. Physical work has been completed for several schemes and the processes for measurement and payment are underway. Meanwhile, for some schemes where the estimated cost exceeds ₹10 lakh, the process for issuing scheme codes is currently in progress.
The District Magistrate directed that regular monitoring of all schemes be ensured so that farmers could avail the benefits of irrigation facilities on time. He also instructed every Executive Engineer to review weekly progress and submit updated reports.
Anupam Kumar (Director, DRDA), the DPO (MGNREGA) and the Executive Engineers of the concerned departments were present at the meeting.