Chief Minister Writes Letter to Union Jal Shakti Minister, Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project Should be Declared a National Project
Jaipur, February 6. Chief Minister Shri Ashok Gehlot has demanded to declare the state’s ambitious Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) as a National Project. He has written a letter to the Union Jal Shakti Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat requesting to declare this project worth Rs. 37,247 crore a national project.
Shri Gehlot in his letter wrote that the project proposed to provide drinking water to 13 districts along with water for irrigation for 2.8 lakh hectares of land through 26 various large and medium projects with ERCP. According to the detailed project report of ERCP, which has been submitted to Central Water Commission for approval, through this project the surplus water in the sub basins of Kunnu, Kul, Parvati, Kalisindh and Mej rivers received during monsoon has to be carried to the sub basin of Banas, Morel, Banganga, Gambhir and Parbati rivers.
Chief Minister has written that the union government had earlier given the status of National Project to 16 various projects, but, as of today, no project in Rajasthan has got this status. Due to serious drinking water problem in many districts of the state, it is necessary to give this project the status of a National Project and to ensure its early implementation. It is to be mentioned that Shri Gehlot had raised this issue before Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during a meeting of NITI Aayog in June last year. The CM had reminded Shri Modi about his promise made during a public meeting in Rajasthan and had demanded to give an early approval to ERCP as a National Project.
It is to be mentioned that through this project availability of sufficient water for drinking and irrigation will be ensured till year 2051 in Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Tonk, Jaipur, Dausa, Karauli, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts.
