MP and Rajasthan sign MoU to implement modified Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal river link project

Bhopal: An MoU for the implementation of the modified Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal (PKC) link project worth Rs 72,000 crore under the centre’s interstate rivers linking campaign was signed between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan governments in the presence of both states’ Chief Ministers, Dr Mohan Yadav and Bhajan Lal Sharma on Sunday in Bhopal.

Addressing a joint press conference with his Rajasthan counterpart in Bhopal, MP CM Dr Yadav informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely lay the project’s foundation stone within one or two months.

CM Yadav said that the project was prepared in 2004 but due to failure to reach consent between the two states for the water distribution of the three rivers, it was pending for around two decades.

“Because of the efficient leadership of PM Modi and his spirit in the federal system, and the willpower of the new governments of both two states, a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) could be made among the MP, Rajasthan, and the Union Jal Shakti ministry in January this year and the project has taken shape”, Dr Yadav said.

The MoU was signed by the Additional Chief Secretaries of the Water Resources Departments of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Rajesh Rajoura and Abhay Kumar respectively.

Chief Minister Yadav said that 13 districts of the Chambal and Malwa regions of the state will benefit from this project.

Water availability will increase in dry belt districts like Sheopur, Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Shivpuri and Guna and it will boost industrialisation in districts such as Indore, Ujjain, Dhar, Agar-Malwa, Shajapur, Dewas and Rajgarh, CM Yadav also said.

Apart from this, the project will provide drinking water for these 13 districts and pave the way for tourism in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, he said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Sharma said that CM Dr Yadav has tried to give concrete shape to the sentiments of PM Modi by taking forward this scheme of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

He said that 13 districts of Rajasthan and the same number of districts of MP will benefit from this project and their mutual relations will also be strengthened.

After signing the MoU by both state governments, CM Yadav and his Rajasthan counterpart Sharma immersed the water of the rivers in a pot (Kalash) to mark the joint initiative for the implementation of the project.

The total cost of the modified PKC river link project is Rs 72,000 crore including Rs 35,000 crore for MP and 37,000 crores for Rajasthan.

The centre will provide 90 per cent of funds for the project while states will bear only 10 per cent.

After completion of the project, about 6.17 Lakh hectares of command area will be irrigated additionally in both states including 3.37 Lakh hectares of land will be irrigated in Madhya Pradesh.