Bathinda: Nearly two years after the inspection of the site for the proposed Malwa Canal to be constructed in Ferozepur, Faridkot and Muktsar districts by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) is holding public hearings for raising suggestions/objections, if any, for the project proponent to obtain environmental clearance from the state environment impact assessment authority (SEIAA) for environmental impact assessment (EIA).The public hearing has been fixed for June 19 in Faridkot, June 22 in Muktsar and June 23 in Ferozepur.As the project is covered under the EIA notification issued by ministry of environment, forest and climate change on Sept 14, 2006, it is required to obtain environmental clearance from the SEIAA.The project proponent prepared a draft EIA study report based on the terms of reference issued by the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), Punjab, and submitted it to the deputy commissioners of the three districts, the chairmen of the zila parishad, the ministry of environment, forest and climate change and the PPCB.The proposed canal will start from 8.46 km of the Hari Ke headworks and run on the left side of the Rajasthan Feeder. It will be 141 km long and will cover a cultivable command area of 86,087 hectares.Jaskirat Singh from the Public Action Committee (PAC) – a pro-environment organisation – and Roman Brar said the state govt should clarify the source of 2,000 cusecs of water for the proposed Malwa Canal.It is being reported that a considerable part of the water in the proposed canal will be diverted from the Budda Darya, which is highly polluted and if it is so, it may take contaminated water to the proposed Malwa Canal, they said.CM Mann, while inspecting the site at Doda village in Muktsar district on July 27, 2024, announced that the canal would be constructed soon to overcome the shortage of surface water for irrigation purposes.The state govt had then stated that villages situated at the tail ends of the Sirhind Feeder canal, which runs parallel to the Rajasthan Feeder, were not getting adequate canal water supply, necessitating the construction of a new canal. When the new canal comes up, the demand of such tail-end villages can be met, it added.Mann, while addressing a public meeting at village Doda, had said that it was for the first time since Independence that a new canal was being constructed as no previous govt ever considered providing an adequate quantity of canal water to farmers.
