Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal has approved signing  of agreement for Kishau and Renuka dam which would add new storage capacities of 1.04 Million Acre Feet (MAF) and 0.404 MAF water on two tributaries of river Yamuna, that is river Tons  and Giri respectively.

In addition, these two dams would generate 660 MW and 40 MW power respectively.

The signing of agreement would reduce the pressure on Haryana for supplying extra raw water to Delhi, said a spokesman of Irrigation and Water Resources Department.

Earlier, Haryana Government had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Lakhwar project on August 28, 2018,

The spokesman said that Kishau project is located on river Tons, which is a tributary of river Yamuna, in districts of Dehradun (Uttrakhand) and Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh). The storage capacity of the dam would be 1.04 MAF and it would produce 660 MW of power. About 2950 hectares land of Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh would be submerged, he said.

A joint venture of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) and Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) would be the executing agency. The water would be shared by the shareholder states in proportion to their shares as per MoU of May 12, 1994 whereas, power would be shared by Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the spokesman said.

He further said that the Renuka Project is located on river Giri, a tributary of river Yamuna in district Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh. This dam would have a storage capacity of 0.404 MAF and generation capacity of 40 MW. A total of 1216 hectares land of Himachal Pradesh would be submerged. The HPPCL would be the  executing agency for the project, he said.

The spokesman said that Delhi has been staking its claim on waters to be released from Renuka Dam. Initially, it was proposed to allocate entire releases from Renuka Dam to Delhi for meeting its drinking water needs. But after objection by Haryana, it is now proposed that only the additional water available due to construction of Renuka Storage would be made available on priority to meet the drinking water needs of Delhi as worked out by Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB).

Thereby, the waters that would have flown down the river Giri without there being any storage, would continue to be distributed like before and only the additional waters that become available due to the construction of storage would be made available to Delhi. Delhi would have priority but not the entire additional water, he said.

He also said that total cost of the three projects would be Rs 9588.60 crore of which 90 per cent would be borne by Government of India as these have been declared projects of national importance.

Haryana Government will pay Rs 458.52 crore as its portion of the remaining 10 per cent cost to be borne by the states, he added.