PM To Open UP Irrigation Project That Started In 1978, Faced Delays

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district tomorrow and inaugurate the Saryu Nahar National Project which will provide assured water for irrigation of over 14 lakh hectares of land and benefit about 29 lakh farmers of the region, his office said.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the project has been built at a total cost of over Rs 9,800 crore, out of which more than Rs 4,600 crore was provisioned in the last four years.

The project also involves interlinking of five rivers -- Ghaghara, Saryu, Rapti, Banganga and Rohini -- to ensure optimum usage of water resources of the region.

Prime Minister Modi will visit Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh and inaugurate the Saryu Nahar National Project tomorrow around 1 pm, the PMO said in a statement today.

The work on the project started in 1978 but due to lack of continuity of budgetary support, interdepartmental coordination and adequate monitoring, it got delayed and was not completed even after nearly four decades, it said.

The Prime Minister's vision for farmer welfare and empowerment, and his commitment to prioritise long pending projects of national importance, brought much needed focus on the project, the statement said.

Consequently in 2016, the project was brought under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana with the target to complete it in a time-bound manner, the PMO said.

In this endeavour, innovative solutions were found for new land acquisition to construct new canals and fill the critical gaps in the project, and also for resolving the pending litigation related to the previous land acquisitions, it said.

The renewed focus has resulted in the project being completed in only about four years.

The project will provide assured water for irrigation of over 14 lakh hectares of land and benefit about 29 lakh farmers of more than 6,200 villages, the PMO said.

It will benefit nine districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, namely Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur and Maharajganj, the statement said.

The farmers of the region, who were the worst sufferers of the inordinate delay in the project, will now immensely benefit from the upgraded irrigation potential, it said.

They will now be able to grow crops on a larger scale and maximise the agri-potential of the region, it added.

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