Centre signs MoU with 6 states for Lakhwar multipurpose project

Ravi S.Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28

Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)  with Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi for construction of  Lakhwar multi-purpose project in the Upper Yamuna Basin.

After signing the agreement, Gadkari expressed hope that completion of the project would give boost to economic activities, especially  agriculture sector in the states concerned.

"The problem of water shortage in all six states will be resolved  once the project is complete as flow in Yamuna will improve in dry season from December to May-June every year," he said.

Upper Yamuna refers to the stretch from the point of river Yamuna's origin in Yamunotri  Glacier at Banderpooch peaks in the Lower Himalayan region in Uttarkhand to the Okhla Barrage in Delhi. Yamuna is the longest and second largest tributary of the Ganges in north India.

Chief Ministers Trivendra Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand), ML Khattar (Haryana), Jairam Thakur (Himachal Pradesh), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan)  and  Arvind Kejriwal exuded optimism on project's positive impact.

Gadkari said the focus is  also on abating pollution in Yamuna under Clean Ganga Mission. As many as 34 projects are being taken on the river out of which 12 are in Delhi which will ensure that the water going to Haryana and Rajasthan will be "nirmal" ( pure).

The about Rs 3,967 crore project  envisages construction of 204 metre high concrete dam across river Yamuna near Lohari village in Dehradun district of  Uttarakhand with a live storage capacity of about 331 MCM.

This storage will provide irrigation for 33,780 hectares , and availability of about 79 MCM water for domestic, drinking and industrial use in the six basin states.

The project, to be executed by Uttarakhand Jal Nigam Limited (UJVL), will also generate 300 MW of power.

Out of the total project cost , the power component of about Rs 1,388 crore will be borne totally by the Uttarakhand  government. The state will also get benefit of total power generation once the project is complete.

Out of the remaining cost of about Rs 2,578 crore which forms the irrigation and drinking water components,  90 per cent  will be borne by the Centre (about Rs 2,320 crore) and the basin states pitching in cumulatively for the balance 10  per cent.

Storage created as result of the project will be shared by these states in proportion to their overall annual allocations regarding which MoU had been signed among them in May 1994.

Allocation of water from storage created by Lakhwar Dam reservoir will be regulated by UYRB. Except the  sharing of stored water, all other resultant economic benefits including generation of hydropower due to construction of the dam are assigned to the state of Uttarakhand.

The project was initially approved in 1976, but work on it was suspended in 1992.