Centre clears decks for Shahpur Kandi Dam

New Delhi, December 6

The government today cleared a proposal to implement the Shahpur Kandi Dam Project in Punjab on the Ravi for which Central assistance of Rs 485.38 crore would be provided over five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: “The project was cleared by the Union Cabinet, which will minimise some of the water of the Ravi, currently going waste through the Madhopur Headworks downstream to Pakistan.”

Jaitley said the project would be implemented by the Punjab Government with Central assistance of Rs 485.38 crore and would be completed by June 2022.

He said on the completion of the project, “an irrigation potential of 5,000 hectare area (ha) in Punjab and 32,173 ha in Jammu and Kashmir would be created. Funding for Central assistance shall be made through NABARD”.

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 for sharing of Indus waters. — TNS