New Delhi [India], September 15 (ANI): Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Tuesday said the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for the Kishau multipurpose project is a historic step towards resolving irrigation and drinking water-related issues while promoting environmental management across six states, adding that future generations will remember this agreement.
Speaking to the reporters, Sharma said that under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, agreements on long-pending schemes are being signed, benefiting states and strengthening development cooperation.
“I thank PM Modi. Under his leadership, agreements are being signed for those schemes that had been pending for years. I can certainly say that the people of Rajasthan are very fortunate. A very big agreement has been signed between six states today. This will resolve the issues of irrigation and drinking water,” he said.
The Rajasthan Chief Minister said the project would benefit irrigation, drinking water supply and environmental management across the participating states.
“This will benefit irrigation, drinking water supply, and environmental management, setting an example of development across all six states. On behalf of Rajasthan’s 8 crore citizens, I express my gratitude to the Prime Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah, Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil, and the Chief Ministers of the six states. Future generations will remember this historic agreement, proving that ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai’ as inter-state water-sharing issues are being resolved smoothly with mutual consent.”
In a significant milestone for inter-state cooperation and development of water resources in the upper Yamuna basin, chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for the construction of the Kishau multipurpose project on Tuesday in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Nearly 28 MoAs were signed among the six states and the Centre. Two project-specific agreements on Renuka ji and Lakhwar multipurpose projects have already been executed, and these projects are under construction. The agreement on the Kishau multipurpose project is the third project on which an agreement for construction has been entered into between the six states.
Union Minister for Jal Shakti CR Patil, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Secretary of the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, and the chief secretaries of the participating states were also present in the meeting, which lasted for around an hour.
Officials said the signing of the historic agreement marks an important step towards the realization of the long-pending Kishau multipurpose project and reflects the spirit of cooperative federalism and collective commitment of the Centre and the basin states for sustainable development and optimal utilization of the water resources of the Yamuna basin.
The Kishau multipurpose project is proposed on the River Tons, a major tributary of the Yamuna River in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun district and Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district. The project envisages the construction of a 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam with a live storage capacity of 1,562 million cubic metres (MCM). It also envisages irrigation benefits to approximately 0.97 lakh hectares of agricultural area with an annual energy generation of approximately 1,476 million units. (ANI)
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