On Tuesday, Chief Ministers of six states signed an agreement for the long-pending ‘Kishau Multipurpose Project’ in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil. The Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Haryana signed this agreement, paving the way for the proposed project on the Tons River along the Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh border.
The Central Government has declared the Kishau Project a national project and will bear approximately 90 percent of the financial burden, while the participating states will shoulder the remaining 10 percent in accordance with the 1994 agreement.
Shri Amit Shah said a 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam will be built on the Tons River along the Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh border. The project will store 1,562 million cubic metres of water, irrigate 97,000 hectares and generate 1,476 million units of clean hydropower. Delhi will be the project’s biggest beneficiary, he said.
Addressing the meeting, Amit Shah stated that this agreement would benefit all six states and improve water availability in the Yamuna basin. He noted that Delhi would derive the greatest benefit from it and linked the project to efforts aimed at improving the condition of the Yamuna.
The Kishau project has been under discussion for several decades. Shah said a 1994 agreement provided for separate arrangements for storage projects in the basin, while progress on Kishau gained momentum after issues related to other projects in the Upper Yamuna basin were resolved.
The Centre has assured Uttarakhand that its financial concerns would be addressed through appropriate government schemes. Shah said the states must maintain the same spirit of cooperation to ensure the project is completed on time. He said the initiative would help revive the Yamuna and strengthen water availability for drinking, agriculture and industrial needs.
(PIB)
