Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal river link pact, a herald of new era of MP’s development
Bhopal: Tripartite MoU for Madhya Pradesh’s modified Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal (P-K-C) link project under the interstate rivers linking campaign is supposed to be a crucial move of the Mohan Yadav-led state government for the development of the state.
The Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) has recently been made among the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Central governments for implementing the modified P-K-C link project of Madhya Pradesh and Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP)
of Rajasthan. The tripartite pact was signed by the officials of both the states and centre in the presence of MP Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav and his Rajasthan counterpart Bhajan Lal Sharma and Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh
Shekhawat on January 28 in New Delhi.
The pact, which has remained pending since 2004 is considered a major achievement of the newly formed BJP state government under the leadership of Dr Yadav in the political corridors.
‘Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the modified P-K-C link project, which has been pending for almost two decades, will now take shape and benefit 13 districts of Chambal and Malwa regions of the state’, CM Yadav said on the pact.
Water availability will increase in dry belt districts like Sheopur, Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Shivpuri and Guna and it will boost industrialisation in the districts such as Indore, Ujjain, Dhar, Agar-Malwa, Shajapur, Dewas and Rajgarh, the Chief Minister said.
Apart from these, the project will provide drinking water for these 13 districts of the state and will improve the living standard of the people by addressing problems like poverty, unemployment, illiteracy etc, the CM added. The pact will pave the way for implementing both the projects, PKC and ERCP, totalling worth Rs 72,000 crore. The modified P-K-C link project will cost Rs 35,000
crore. The centre will provide 90 per cent of funds for the project while states will
bear only 10 per cent. After completion of the P-K-C link project, about 3.37 Lakh hectares of command area will be irrigated additionally in Madhya Pradesh. At present, about 45 Lakh hectares of command area are being irrigated in the state. The project will be completed in less than 5 years. About 1.5 crore population of the state will benefit from this project.
As a result, the religious and tourist centres in Chambal and Malwa will also develop, CM Yadav said, adding that this project will not only be a boon for the western MP but also a herald of a new era of the entire state’s development.
Notably, the feasibility report was prepared for the P-K-C link project in February 2004 but due to lack of concurrence among the trio, centre and both the states, it has been pending since then. Meanwhile, Rajasthan brought the proposal of ERCP
in 2019 which created hurdles. Now, P-K-C and ERCP have been integrated under the MoU.
‘The main objective of the pact is to integrate the modified P-K-C link project with ERCP by utilising the surplus water of the Parvati, Kalisindh, Kul, Banas and Kuno rivers to optimise the utilisation of water in the Chambal River System’, Shishir Kushwah, Engineer-in-Chief of Water Resources Department of MP told Millennium Post.
A total of 17 dams/barrages, gross capacity of 1477.37 million cubic metres (MCMs) will be constructed in the Chambal and Malwa regions of the state under the P-K-C link project, Kushwah said. After the completion of the project, 13 districts will have an irrigation facility, increasing the 3.37 Lakh hectares command area, he added.
