Haryana CM calls up Uma for funds for Lakhwar dam

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 15

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today visited the Lakhwar multipurpose project here and rang up Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti regarding sanction of funds. The Chief Minister got a positive response from Bharti. It may be recalled that the construction of the project was discontinued in1992 for want of funds.

The Planning Commission of India had accorded its approval for the construction of the dam in 1976. The project aimed at supplying water to Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan for irrigation, domestic and industrial purposes. The work to construct the project was started in 1987 and by 1992, only 30 per cent of the work was completed. In 2008, the Central government declared it a national project.

The Central government constituted the Upper River Yamuna Board to distribute waters of the Yamuna among the beneficiary states. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by these states on May 12, 1994. Haryana’s share of water was fixed at 47.82 per cent. Haryana is proposed to get 1.22 lakh acre feet of additional water from the Lakhwar dam.

The Lakhwar multipurpose project will generate 612.93 million units of electricity annually. It will help in checking floods and control water flow in the river. Till now, Rs 392 crore has been spent on the project. In 2012, the estimated cost of the project was Rs 2,578.23 crore. The Central government would bear 90 per cent of the project cost.