Bundelkhand, that was made to be known in the world for water revolution by Parmar and Chandel dynasties has become dependent on rain- based agriculture after Independence due to its neglect, said former Union Minister and sitting BJP parliamentarian Prahlad Patel in a statement here on Saturday.
Patel further said that when Atal Behari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government was formed at the Centre it formulated a scheme of linking rivers as gift to the people of drought and flood affected areas.
He said that the present Narendra Modi-led BJP Government of the Centre moved water revolution further by sanctioning Ken-Betwa link project that blessed the Bundelkhand region. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has shown the courage to go ahead with the river linking schemes. The Ken-Betwa linking project would benefit six districts each of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh besides over 6 lakh hectare of land would become fertile, he added.
He said that in the Ken Betwa linking project a 221 kilometer long canal would be constructed at the cost of Rs 10,000 crores. One more specialty of this project would be that the excess water of the Ken basin would be released in those parts of Betwa that have lesser water. The project has been approved under the Peninsular Component lawn drawn at national level for the linking of sixteen rivers.