Lakhwar Multipurpose National Project for water finally got approved today. It is almost four decades old project. For this, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation along with Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Rawat, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur, Haryana CM Manohar Lal and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal signed MoU in Delhi. Know more.
On start of such a grand project, Rajasthan government thanked Union minister Nitin Gadkari. Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Smt. Vasundhara Raje also made a tweet.
Yet another example of cooperative federalism. A project conceived in 1976, finalised in 1992 shall see the light of day – with the Rs. 3966 Cr. Lakhwar Multipurpose Project bringing much needed Yamuna water to 6 states. #Rajasthan thanks Union Minister Shri @nitin_gadkari ji. pic.twitter.com/DRVhB9DDMQ
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) August 28, 2018
Details of the project
This project was conceived in 1976 and finalized in year 1992 finally inked today. With this Rs. 3966 crore Lakhwar Multipurpose Project, the water of Yamuna river will be provided to six states. Under this project, a 204 meter high dam will be built. This project will generate three hundred MW of power. Here, the expenditure on electricity ₹ 1388.28 crore will be borne by Uttarakhand government. Hence, it will get full power on electricity. On drinking water and irrigation water, ₹ 2578.23 crore will be spent. Out of this, central government will bear 90% expenditure and state government will take rest 10%.The water will be divided between six states.
History of the project
This project faced several issues in implementation. In 1976, Lakhwar project was approved by the Planning Commission. Then, in 1986, after getting environmental clearance, the JP Group started construction of a 204 meter high dam. Later, in 1992, JP Group got separated from the project due to non-receipt of the money. Later in 2008, the central government declared it a national project, under which the central government would spend 90 percent of the money and the remaining 10 percent would be ruled by the state.
Under the chairmanship of Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari, a meeting was held between Upper Yamuna River Board in Delhi and the Chief Ministers of the respective states on 15th February. They had collectively agreed on water project.
