Modi inaugurates Saryu Canal Project in poll-bound UP

Vibha Sharma

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 11 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated another mega project in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the Saryu Canal Project in politically significant eastern region or Purvanchal,

In the past few days, the PM has made several visits to UP to inugurate/launch development projects.

The Saryu Nahar National Project has been built at a cost of Rs 9,800 crore, out of which more than Rs 4,600 crore was provisioned in the last four years.

The project also involves interlinking of five rivers – Ghaghara, Saryu, Rapti, Banganga and Rohini – to ensure optimum usage of water resources of the region, according to an official statement.

The project will provide assured water for irrigation of over 14 lakh hectares and benefit about 29 lakh farmers of over 6,200 villages.

It will benefit nine districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, namely Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur and Maharajganj. The farmers of the region, who were the worst sufferers of the inordinate delay in the project, would now immensely benefit from the upgraded irrigation potential, it said, adding that they would now be able to grow crops on a larger scale and maximise the agri-potential of the region.

“The work on the project started in 1978 but due to lack of continuity of budgetary support, interdepartmental coordination and adequate monitoring, it got delayed and was not completed even after nearly four decades.

“Prime Minister’s vision for farmer welfare and empowerment, and his commitment to prioritise long-pending projects of national importance brought much needed focus on the project. Consequently in 2016, the project was brought under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana with the target to complete it in a time-bound manner,” it said.

“In this endeavour, innovative solutions were found for new land acquisition to construct new canals and fill the critical gaps in the project, and also for resolving the pending litigation related to the previous land acquisitions.

“The renewed focus on the project has resulted in the project being completed in only about four years,” the official statement added.