Guwahati, Sep 15 (PTI) Only 14 per cent of the gross sown area in Assam has been covered by irrigation projects this year, Irrigation Minister Ashok Singhal said in the state assembly on Friday.

Out of the nearly 4,000 irrigation projects in the state, more than 1,500 are not functional, he said.

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Replying to a question from Independent legislator Akhil Gogoi, Singhal said the gross sown area in the state is 38.88 lakh hectares and the net sown area is 27.24 lakh hectares.

Out of these, 11.03 lakh hectares have been brought under irrigation schemes till 2023, although this year, crops in only 5.50 lakh hectares could be grown using water provided under these schemes.

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Irrigation schemes covered 14 per cent of the gross sown area in the state this year, the minister said.

Water through the schemes is provided to Kharif crops (June to October) and Rabi crops (November to May).

There are 3,913 schemes under the irrigation department, of which 1,585 are currently not working.

Singhal said work is going on to restore the non-functioning schemes and projects.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)