By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 24 Jun: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami called on Union Minister for Jal Shakti (Water Resources) Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi, today. It may be recalled that the CM is in New Delhi since yesterday to attend the nomination of NDA candidate for Presidential election, Draupadi Murmu.
During the meeting with Shekhawat, Dhami requested him to accord sanction to the proposed project under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (Irrigation Scheme) by starting the work on the Jamrani Dam project at the earliest. He also asked the Union Minister for early approval for the 300 MW Bawla Nandprayag Hydropower Project. The Chief Minister also sought inclusion of some provisions in the MoU of Kisau Project.
He stressed before the Union Minister that under the ambitious Jamrani Dam multipurpose project, a 130.60 m high concrete gravity dam would be constructed on Gaula River in district Nainital, 10 kms upstream from Haldwani city. With the construction of the dam, an additional irrigation capacity of 57,065 hectares would be created in a command area of 1,50,027 hectares in the states of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Uttarakhand. At the same time, availability of 117 million litres of water would also be ensured to meet the drinking water requirement of Haldwani city and its adjoining areas.
The Chief Minister said that, in a meeting held under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti, on 10 June, a recommendation was made for investment approval of the Jamrani Bach project. He requested the Union Minister to direct the persons concerned to approve the proposed project under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojanato start the work on the Jamrani Dam project at the earliest.
Dhami reminded that approval had been obtained from various directorates of Central Water Commission and Central Electricity Authority, Government of India, for the 300 MW Bavla Nand Prayag Hydroelectric Project of UJVNL. No restriction has been imposed on this project by the Supreme Court or any other institution like National Ganga Development Authority (NGRBA), Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Expert Committee-2 constituted by Government of India, etc.
The Chief Minister added that a meeting was held between the Ministry of Power, the Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change and the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, in October 2021 on the proposed 10 hydropower projects (Bawla Nand Prayag and 9 other projects) on the Ganga and its tributaries. UJVNL was directed by the Union Ministry of Power to contact the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti in January, 2022.
The Chief Minister asked the Union Minister for early approval for the implementation of Bawla Nand Prayag Hydroelectric Project. Referring to the Kisau project, the Chief Minister said that, for the implementation of the said project, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had to be signed between the six beneficiary states. The Chief Minister requested the Union Minister to take necessary action regarding the signing of the said MoU at the earliest by including some points in the inter-state agreement to speed up the implementation of the Project.
