IANS

Chandigarh, Aug 17: New lakes will be dug and reservoirs built, while old ones will be renovated by the Haryana government to fight drought in the future, the state's finance minister has announced.

The Haryana government has decided to dig big lakes and will renovate the old ones in the state to provide irrigation facilities to the farmers in adverse circumstances, a state government spokesman said Monday quoting the minister, Birendra Singh.

"The lakes and reservoirs would be constructed to deal with drought like conditions in the state. A target has been set to irrigate about 20,000 acres of land in the state by these lakes. Each lake would provide irrigation facilities to 2-3 acres of land. The government is making all-out efforts to provide irrigation facilities to every inch of land in the state," the finance minister said.

"To achieve this objective a network of canals and distributaries is being laid in the state," he added.

Haryana is facing one of the worst droughts in recent years due to inadequate monsoon rains. The state has sought Rs.31.68 billion (3,168.75 crore) from the centre as drought relief.

Haryana and Punjab contribute over 50 percent of the total food grains to the national pool.