The Chief Minister's Office of Punjab announced on Friday, June 5, 2026, that the state government has successfully completed the construction of the main riser and tanks of a new lift irrigation scheme serving the villages of Samlah and Pahadpur, with distribution work currently under way. According to the official post, the scheme will bring irrigation water to 2,762 acres of entirely new farmland in the Changer area of Sri Anandpur Sahib. The announcement credits the progress to the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Context

The Changer area lies in the sub-montane Shivalik foothills of Rupnagar district, where undulating terrain has historically prevented gravity-fed canal irrigation from reaching higher-elevation villages. Lift irrigation schemes — which use pumping infrastructure to push water uphill — have been the primary tool for extending surface water access to such zones since the 1970s. The completion of the main riser and storage tanks marks the structural backbone of the project; the ongoing distribution network will connect individual fields to that supply.

Policy Backdrop

Punjab's agricultural economy has faced a deepening groundwater crisis driven by decades of water-intensive wheat-paddy cultivation. Successive state governments have targeted the Kandi belt — the foothill strip running through districts including Rupnagar, Hoshiarpur, and Pathankot — with lift scheme investments to reduce farmer dependence on tubewells and stabilise crop yields. The Bhagwant Mann government, in office since March 2022, has continued this policy lineage, framing surface irrigation expansion as part of a broader push to protect farm incomes and conserve groundwater. The Sri Anandpur Sahib constituency has been among the blocks targeted for incremental additions to irrigated command area under this approach.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are farming households in Samlah, Pahadpur, and surrounding Changer area villages, who currently rely on rain-fed cultivation or expensive tubewell irrigation for their fields. Access to canal-sourced lift water across 2,762 acres of previously unirrigated land could enable year-round or multi-crop cultivation, directly affecting farm incomes in one of Punjab's more topographically challenged agricultural belts. Broader stakeholders include the state's water management agencies responsible for maintaining the scheme once distribution is complete and water release schedules are formalised.

What's Next

The immediate milestone to watch is the completion of the distribution network, after which the government is expected to announce water release schedules and formal beneficiary coverage details. The Punjab government has indicated similar lift schemes are under active consideration in other constituencies, suggesting this project may be part of a wider expansion of surface irrigation in the state's sub-montane zones. How quickly the completed riser and tank infrastructure translates into water reaching farmers' fields will be the practical measure of the scheme's impact.