Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar has requested Union minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Uma Bharti to expedite sanctioning of funds for the lakhwad multi-purpose project on the Yamuna river in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand. Khattar talked to Bharti on the phone while visiting lakhwad here on Friday.
According to a statement issued by Haryana Government officials, the Haryana CM received a “positive” response from the Union Minister to the issue he had raised in the telephonic conversation. The statement states, “The construction of the project was discontinued in the year 1992 for want of funds.
It was in the year 1976 that the Planning Commission of India had accorded approval for construction of this dam. The project is aimed at supplying water to the states of Haryana, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan for irrigation, domestic and industrial purposes. The work of constructing the project was started in 1987 and by 1992 only about 30 per cent of the work could be completed. The Central Government had declared this project as a national project in the year 2008. The Upper River Yamuna Board was constituted by the Central government to distribute the waters of Yamuna river among the beneficiary states. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by these beneficiary states on May 12, 1994. According to the MoU Haryana’s share of water was fixed at 47.82 per cent. Haryana is proposed to get 1.22 lakh acre feet additional water from lakhwad dam.
The lakhwad multi-purpose project would generate 612.93 million units of electricity annually. The project would help in checking floods and controlled water would flow in the river.
A sum of Rs 392 crore has been spent so far on the construction of this project. The expected cost of water component of this project is Rs 2578.23 crore, on the basis of prices in the year 2012. The Central government would bear 90 per cent of the expected expenditure of the project. All sanctions, except that of funds, concerning the Central government have been received,” state the officials.