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Centre declares 14 river projects national assets

Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday declared 14 river projects national assets for which it pledged 90 per cent funding. Through these projects, water supply for drinking and irrigation will be improved. Approving a Water Resources Ministry proposal, the Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, decided that only 10 per cent of the cost be borne by the States concerned. While the total estimated cost of the 14 projects is Rs. 53,200 crore, the requirement will be Rs. 7,000 crore in the 11th Plan.

Most of the projects identified for completion are the ones that have international ramifications (international projects permissible under a treaty with a neighbour) or those that met the criteria but were dragging on due to non-resolution of inter-State issues.

“State subject”

On the Cabinet’s “landmark decision,” Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz said these were “not nationalised projects but were national assets.” Water would continue to be a “State subject.”

The projects with “international ramifications” that have been cleared include the Teesta barrage in West Bengal, the Shahpur Kandi project on the Ravi in Punjab, Bursar on the Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir, the second Ravi-Vyas link to benefit Punjab, the multipurpose Ujh project on the Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir and Gypsa on the Chenab in Himachal Pradesh.

Projects in the Yamuna basin include Lakhwar Vyasi in Uttaranchal, Kishau on the Tons tributary in Himachal Pradesh/Uttaranchal and Renuka on the Giri in Himachal Pradesh.

The projects identified on the international rivers in the northeast include the Noa-Dehang Dam project on the Noa-Dehang in Arunachal Pradesh, the Kulsi dam on the Siang in Assam and the Upper Siang on the Brahmaputra in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Gosikhurd project on the Vainganga in Maharashtra is an intra-State project, while Ken-Betwa in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is a project for inter-linking rivers.

Asked why no project on southern rivers was included, Mr. Soz said the States concerned had to first agree on sharing river waters. The Godavari-Polavaram-Krishna-Vijayawada project among Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and “partly” Tamil Nadu could be considered in the 12th Plan if all the States agreed.

The Minister said a techno-scientific criterion had been applied for identifying the projects. Special attention had been paid to inter-State projects which were “not in dispute,” where hydrology was established and which had the potential to create irrigation potential for more than two lakh hectares. The projects were recommended by a Group of Ministers headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

“No State is debarred if it meets the criterion,” the Minister said but hinted that no more projects could be taken up in the 11th Plan. The Centre’s assistance would be in addition to the aid given under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP).

Under the AIBP, the Centre funds 25 per cent of a project cost for non-special category States and 90 per cent for special category States.

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