On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation for the Ken-Betwa River Link Project in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh. He also virtually launched the Khandwa district’s Omkareshwar Floating Solar Project during this event.
Union Water Resources Minister C R Patil and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav handed over two `kalash’ (urns) with waters from the Betwa and Ken rivers, respectively, to PM Modi, who poured them over a model of the project to commence the ambitious scheme.
The project, estimated to cost Rs 44,605 crore, will provide drinking water to nearly 44 lakh people in ten districts of Madhya Pradesh and 21 lakh in Uttar Pradesh. According to officials, the project will serve around 7.18 lakh agricultural families in 2,000 villages and produce 27 MW of solar energy and 103 MW of hydropower.
On the centennial of the late former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth, PM Modi also unveiled a coin and commemorative stamp in his honor. The Vajpayee government proposed river linkage as a way to deal with floods and irrigation requirements.
At the Khajuraho program, PM Modi also conducted a “bhumi pujan,” or groundbreaking ceremony, for the 1,153 Atal Gram Sewa Sadans that would be built at a cost of Rs 437 crore.
By when will the project be completed?
According to the Jal Shakti Ministry, the KBLP project is proposed to be implemented in eight years.
When was the Ken-Betwa project agreement signed?
The Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh governments, along with the Ministry of Jal Shakti, signed a memorandum of agreement on March 22, 2021, to carry out the Ken-Betwa Link Project.
Which regions will benefit from it?
Bundelkhand, which covers 13 districts in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, is where the project is located. The Jal Shakti Ministry claims that the project will greatly benefit the water-starved area, particularly the districts of Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi, and Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh and Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri, and Raisen in Madhya Pradesh. According to a statement from the Ministry, “It will pave the way for more river interlinking projects to ensure that water scarcity does not become an inhibitor for development in the country.”
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