MOU For Preparation Of DPR On Par – Tapi - Narmada And Damanganga – Pinjal River Links Signed
A tripartite Memorandum of Understranding (MoU) has been executed amongst the State of Gujarat, State of Maharashtra and the Union Government for preparation of the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of Damanganga – Pinjal Link Project and Par – Tapi – Narmada Link Project. The MOU has been signed today by the Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Ashok Chavan, & the Union Minister for Water Resources Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal, in the august presence of the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh. The agreement has been culmination of the joint efforts of the Central Government and the Governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra to initiate the process of preparation of Detailed Project Reports of these two links for providing benefits to the people of the areas at the earliest.
The proposed Damanganga – Pinjal and Par – Tapi – Narmada links are two Inter Basin Water Transfer links concerning Gujarat & Maharashtra. While Damanganga – Pinjal link mainly benefits Maharashtra State, Par – Tapi – Narmada link mainly benefits Gujarat State.
Par – Tapi – Narmada link envisages the transfer of surplus water from west flowing rivers north of Damanganga upto Tapi to water deficit areas in North Gujarat. The scheme is located mainly in southern Gujarat; but it also covers part of the areas, north of Mumbai on the Western Ghats in Maharashtra. The link project consists of 7 proposed reservoirs on these rivers and a 395 km long link canal. The diverted water will be used to irrigate a total of 1.63 lakh ha annually in the districts of Valsad, Navsari, Dang, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara besides the drought prone Saurashtra & Kutch region. Power houses proposed at the foot of the various dams will also generate hydropower to the tune of about 32.5 MW.
Damanganga – Pinjal link envisages the transfer of surplus water of Damanganga basin available at the proposed Bhugad and Khargihill dam sites to Pinjal reservoir for augmentation of water supply to Greater Mumbai city. All the three reservoirs will be connected through tunnels i. e. Bhugad – Khargihill (length 16.85 Km) and Khargihill – Pinjal (length 25.70 Km) for the transfer of about 909 Million cubic meter of water annually.
The parameters will be fine tuned and finalized in the DPRs.
It may be recalled that the Ministry of Water Resources had prepared a National Perspective Plan (NPP) in the year 1980 for Water Resources Development in the country envisaging transfer of water from water surplus areas to water deficit areas. Based on numerous water balance studies, toposheet studies of reservoir sites and link alignments etc., National Water Development Agency (NWDA) identified 30 links, 16 under Peninsular Component and 14 under Himalayan Component for the preparation of feasibility reports in line with the proposals of NPP.
The Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) programme has gained momentum in the recent past as efforts have been made by the UPA Government for a comprehensive assessment of this important infrastructure development programme with a focus on the Southern Rivers. The NWDA has so far completed feasibility reports for fourteen links under the Peninsular component. Government of India has been making continuous efforts with the State Governments in building consensus on these ILR link proposals and has prioritized five link proposals to obtain the consent of basin states to take up the Detailed Project Reports of prioritized links. Detailed Project Report (DPR) of one of the priority links, namely, Ken – Betwa link has already been completed by NWDA. The DPR is under finalization in the light of modifications suggested by the party states before submission to appraising agencies.
SK/RS
(Release ID :61356)