The Centre today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the six Upper Yamuna basin states for the construction of Lakhwar multi-purpose project in Uttarakhand.
The states are Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi. Union Minister for Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari inked the MoU with the Chief Ministers of these states in New Delhi for the project worth 3966.51 crore rupees.
The Lakhwar project envisages construction of a 204-metre high concrete dam across river Yamuna in Uttarakhand with a live storage capacity of 330.66 million cubic metre, MCM.
This storage will provide 78.83 MCM water for domestic and industrial use in the six basin states. It will also irrigate 33,780 hectares of land and generate 300 Megawatt of power.
Out of the total project cost of 3966.51 crore rupees, the power component of 1388.28 crore rupees will be borne totally by the Uttarakhand government. Uttarakhand will also get the benefit of total power generation once the project is complete.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Gadkari said, there is no scarcity of water but there is a need to conserve water properly. He said, efforts are being made to provide clean drinking water to the people.
Upper Yamuna refers to the stretch of River Yamuna from its origin to the Okhla Barrage in Delhi. The six Upper Yamuna Basin states had signed a MoU on 12th May 1994 regarding allocation of surface flow of River Yamuna.
