Gandhinagar

The Gujarat government has completed nearly 2.21 crore cubic metres of earthwork over the past three years as part of a large-scale campaign aimed at strengthening water bodies and improving irrigation infrastructure across the state, officials from the water resources department said.

The desilting and rejuvenation drive exceeded its original target of 203 lakh cubic metres of earthwork during the period from 2022-23 to 2024-25.

State Minister for Water Resources and Water Supply Ishwarsinh Patel said the achievement marked a significant milestone under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

“Against the planned target of 203 lakh cubic metres, the department achieved 221.37 lakh cubic metres of earthwork through dedicated government machinery,” the minister said.

According to officials, the campaign focused on restoring the original carrying capacity of canals, rivers, lakes, reservoirs and streams to ensure irrigation water reaches agricultural areas located at the tail-end of distribution networks.

The minister said a major cleaning operation covering around 4,223 kilometres was also undertaken to remove unwanted vegetation spread across nearly 123 lakh square metres.

“The work involved clearing dense bushes and wild shrubs growing along dams, irrigation canals, lakes and natural water channels,” he added.

Departmental figures showed that the works were carried out across 1,474 operational sites. The state government deployed between 88 and 96 heavy earth-moving machines daily on average during the three-year campaign.

The Irrigation Mechanical Circles in Ahmedabad and Vadodara played a key role in executing the project.

Apart from desilting, technical teams also carried out specialised works such as construction of cofferdams, strengthening of earthen embankments, maintenance of drainage lines and efforts to control salinity ingress in coastal regions.

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Patel said the government’s continued focus on modernisation, technology integration and deployment of heavy machinery was helping Gujarat move closer to its long-term goal of becoming a water-surplus state.