Himalayan Times (1962)

September Z, 1962

Himalayan

Ti mes

Seven

in; in agriculture to boys
after their Matriculation or
equivalent examinations.

Provision for adequate
•upply of water, an im-
portant factor in culti-
vation bas bean made in
various ways. At the
commencement of the,,
year 1947 48 the total
irrigable oommand of the
Irrigation and Waterways
Department was 364,397
acres. This figure was
raised to 721,000 acres at
the end of the First Five
Year Plan and to l,732,u00
acres at the end of the
Second Plan. Daring the
Third Plan irrigation has
so far been extended to
approximately 13,000 aorss
of the additional area
under the Mayurakshi
Project and about 25,000
acres (subject to varifica-
tion on the basis of test
notes) of the new area
under the DVO as against
462,000 acres and 553,000
aores brought under irriga-
tion by these two major
projects respectively up
to the year I960 61. Areas
benefited by the medium
and minor drainage
schemes of the Irrigation
Department at the end of
1955 56 totalled 48ft 000
acres, which went np to
876,000 acres by the end
of 1960-61.

Of tha major irriga-
tion schema, the Mayu-
rakshi Project originally
estimated to cost Rs.
1,585 lakh was completed

during the Second Plan
period.

The DVC and the
Kangsabari ProjeeU are
the other major irriga-
tion^ works io the State.

What may be oalled a
medium irrigation soheme
taken up in the Second
Plan, is the Karatowa-
Talma Irrigation .Scheme
in Jalpaiguri district on
oompletion of whioh an
Irrigation potential of the
order of 13,800 acres will
be created. Besides these
major and medium irriga-
tion schemes, the Agri-
culture Department im-
plemented several small
irrigation schemes 334 of
whioh were implemented
during 1961 62.

Close attention he*
been paid to the problem
of land reforms, i The pre-
paration or revision of
record of rights for the
purposes oonneoted with
the West Bengal Estates
Acquisition Act, 1963 is
nearing completion in all
districts except in Purnlia
and West Dinajpur. The
assessment of compensa-
tion payable tn interme
diaries is progressing satis-
factorily.

Already a leading in-
dustrial State West Bengal
bas been placed more
prominently on the in-
dustrial map of India by
tha recent additicn to
the States' industries A
looomotive works, a cable
manufacturing faoiory,

stee! plant at Durgapur
and some of important
industries have been set
up in West Bengal in
the years after the Inde-
pendence.

In the sphere of cottage
end small industries par*
ticular attention bas been
paid to bandlooms, power-
loom, manufacture of silk
goods, ceramics, handi-
crafts, ooir and lac.

Of the five Industrial
Estates proposed to ba
established during the
Second Five Year Plan,
the Industrial Estates at
Baruipur, Saktigarh and
Kalyani have been com.
plated. Work relating to
Howrafa and Siliguri
Industrial Estates is in
progress.

In order that the
schemes relating to the
procurement and supply
of raw materials and the
marketing of cottage and
small industries products
may be fully implemented
on commercial and semi-
commeroisl basis, it bas
been decided to out-trust
this work to the West
Bengal Small Industries
Corporation l>td., a State
Government undertaking.
Already two depots have
been set up in Calcutta,
for storing and supplying
raw materials required for
small industries.

A number of sales
emporia have also been

( Continued on page 5)