The state government on Friday announced that several villages in Mahisagar and Panchmahals will now get water in their ponds from the Panam high-level canal. The move will help fill 53 ponds of 38 villages in the two tribal districts, where the terrain makes it difficult to access canal networks. The state said that an in-principle approval for the project has already been given. The 53 ponds will be filled using a pipeline network and by lifting water directly from the canal. The project will help irrigate 10,000-hectare land and will benefit 11000 farmers and 45000 villagers in the two districts. Apparently, the two Assembly constituencies Morva Hadaf and Lunawada in Panchmahals will soon see by-polls in the coming months. Morva Hadaf fell vacant after independent MLA Bhupendra Khant was disqualified for submitting an invalid caste certificate for contesting the seat which was reserved for the ST Community. Whereas, Lunawada Assembly seat fell vacant after the sitting MLA Ratansinh Rathod won the Lok Sabha polls from the Panchmahal seat. As of now, Rs 216 crore has been allocated for the project. The state said that since most farmers in this region are small and marginal ones they are unable to use pipelines to get water from the canal on their own. An 86.5 km long eight pipelines will be used to bring water to the ponds and the water will be pumped from six different locations on the canal. At least 8 pipelines will be able to carry 10 to 60 cusecs of water to be pumped at a height of 13 to 23 meter. With the availability of water in the ponds through the pipeline network, the state said farmers in the region will also be able to take both Kharif and rabi crops, which in turn will improve the economic condition of farmers in the region. The Panam high-level canal which gets water from the Panam reservoir is 30 km long and has a carrying capacity of 800 cusec water. The main and branch canals of the project have been completed.

Stay updated with all the Ahmedabad Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.