Ambala
Health Minister Anil Vij today said the Dadupur-Nalvi irrigation scheme was totally wrong and the project was started due to political reasons.

Speaking to mediapersons here, the minister said, “The CAG had observed that the project was a wasteful expenditure. The observation cannot be ignored. The project was neither planned well nor its viability checked. The project was launched only due to political reasons and no arrangements were made to bring water into the canal; even its distributaries were not constructed.”

“The farmers are unhappy because their land got divided into two because of this project and they never got the benefit of the canal,” he added.

On September 27, the state Cabinet had approved a proposal of the Irrigation and Water Resources Department to denotify 1,019 acres acquired for the Dadupur-Nalvi irrigation scheme. The scheme was initiated in 1985.

Earlier in the day, the minister once again advocated regularisation of contractual sanitation workers.

While attending an event organised to honour sanitation workers, sarpanches, NGOs and government departments for their work under the Swachh Bharat campaign, Vij said: “Cleanliness drive should not be limited to a week-long celebration. Every person must make it a part of daily routine. Sanitation workers are the most important link in the campaign and their problems must be resolved on priority basis.”

The minister praised the district administration and Municipal Corporation for their efforts in making Ambala open defecation-free. Criticising the previous governments, Vij said they never took Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of clean India seriously.

On the occasion, the minister launched ‘Ambala Di Shaan’, a documentary prepared by the Municipal Corporation in the honour of sanitation workers.