Stage set for Kishau project pact

Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11

Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari will sign an agreement with six states of upper Yamuna basin for construction of the Kishau multi-purpose project tomorrow following understanding reached between Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand following his mediation on Friday.

Gadkari held a joint meeting with Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Jai Ram Thakur and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister TS Rawat to push for progress on the project.  The differences between the two states were over sharing of waters. 

The meeting was held after Gadkari signed an agreement with the Chief Ministers of upper Yamuna Basin states, namely Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, besides Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, for construction of national multi-purpose Renukaji Dam on Giri river ( a tributary of Yamuna) in Sirmour district in Himachal for sharing of waters. The Kishau project is a part of a total of three storage projects which are proposed to be constructed on the Yamuna and its two tributaries — Tons and Giri. It will be 236 m-high concrete dam constructed on Tons river which will straddle the border between Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The other two are Lakhwar project, for which the six upper Yamuna Basin states have already signed an agreement, and the Renukaji project.

Kishau dam will have a live storage capacity of 1,324 MCM, which will create irrigation potential of about 97,000 hectares and make available 517 MCM drinking water and generate 660 MW of power.