Patna: The Bihar government has completed 2,371 of the 2,537 irrigation and water conservation projects approved under the Jal Jeevan Hariyali campaign since its launch in 2019, according to the state’s Minor Water Resources Department.
Addressing a press conference in Patna on Wednesday, the department’s minister, Santosh Kumar Suman, said the completed works account for nearly 95% of the total sanctioned projects.
The projects, implemented up to the financial year 2025–26, have restored irrigation capacity across nearly 2.52 lakh hectares and created water storage capacity of around 1,094 lakh cubic metres, the minister said.
More projects proposed under extended scheme
The state government has extended the Jal Jeevan Hariyali campaign for another five years, from 2025 to 2030, citing its impact on irrigation and groundwater recharge.
For the financial year 2026–27, the department has proposed 154 additional projects with an estimated cost of Rs. 206.39 crore. These proposals have been sent to the finance department for onward approval from NABARD.
Officials said the new projects could add irrigation capacity across 16,585 hectares.
Progress under ‘Har Khet Tak Sinchai Ka Pani’
Under the separate “Har Khet Tak Sinchai Ka Pani” programme, the department said 1,837 of 2,256 approved schemes had been completed by the end of 2025–26.
These projects have helped restore irrigation capacity over 2.27 lakh hectares, according to the department.
Subsidy support for farmers
The minister said 35,000 farmers had received subsidies under the Mukhyamantri Niji Nalkoop Yojana to install private tube wells.
The subsidy amount was transferred directly to beneficiaries through direct benefit transfer (DBT), he said.
The department estimates that these installations are currently supporting irrigation over nearly 1.75 lakh hectares.
New check dams and irrigation works
Suman said the state government had announced the construction of four check dams and two ahar-pyne structures in Bhagalpur, Aurangabad, Gaya and Nalanda during the chief minister’s recent district visits.
The combined estimated cost of these projects is
Rs. 87.06 crore, and officials said the work is under way.
Once completed, the schemes are expected to create irrigation capacity over 3,730 hectares.
Focus on drought-prone areas
The minister said the department was prioritising irrigation expansion in drought-prone parts of south Bihar, where water scarcity remains a recurring issue.
He added that efforts were also under way to remove encroachments from traditional ahar-pyne irrigation channels and revive non-functional government tube wells.
At present, 5,558 government tube wells are operational in the state, according to the department.
Separately, under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Bihar has submitted 105 project proposals worth Rs 274.83 crore to the Central Water Commission in Patna for approval. If cleared, these projects are expected to create irrigation capacity over 21,490 hectares.
