Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation of the long-awaited Ken-Betwa river-linking project on Wednesday in Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh. The event coincides with the birth centenary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who envisioned the national river-linking initiative in 2002.
The Rs 49,000-crore project, the country's first river-linking initiative under the national river interlinking policy, aims to address drought and migration issues in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The project promises to give irrigation benefits of more than 8.11 lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh and 59,000 hectares in Uttar Pradesh, impacting around seven lakh farmers and stabilising existing irrigation facilities.
It also aims to provide drinking water to 44 lakh people in Madhya Pradesh and 21 lakh in Uttar Pradesh, alongside generating 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar energy. It also includes the restoration of 42 Chandela-era heritage ponds to enhance groundwater levels.
"Prime Minister Modi has taken the initiative to realise the dream of former PM late Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the river linking campaign," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said.
Mr Yadav said Ken-Betwa is the largest irrigation project in the country, adopting an underground pressurised pipe irrigation system.
The project involves constructing a 77-meter-high Daudhan Dam on the Ken River within the Panna Tiger Reserve, transferring surplus water to the Betwa River via a 221-km canal. It is expected to improve forest ecosystems and mitigate floods in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district.
The Daudhan reservoir will provide drinking water to wild animals in the Panna Tiger Reserve throughout the year, improve the forest ecosystem and bring relief to UP's Banda district from the flood menace, Mr Yadav said.
Recently, a tripartite agreement for the Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal river link project was signed in the presence of PM Modi in Jaipur.
