Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced a goal to clean the Yamuna river by 2029. This came during the signing of the Kishau Multipurpose Project agreement, which he said will provide crucial water for the river’s environmental flow.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday expressed confidence in achieving the goal of a clean Yamuna by 2029. Shah made the statement while chairing a meeting attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and his counterparts in Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami; Himachal Pradesh, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu; Rajasthan, Bhajan Lal Sharma; Delhi, Rekha Gupta; and Haryana, Nayab Singh Saini, during the signing of the Kishau Multipurpose Project agreement.
Union Home Minister said that when the waters of the Yamuna were allocated, there was a serious lapse on the part of policymakers. He said the environmental flow of the Yamuna was not calculated at all, and all the available water was distributed among the states. No water was left for the river itself.
The minister further said that 25 per cent of the water will become available through the Kishau Multipurpose Project Agreement, which will prove extremely beneficial for both Delhi and the Yamuna. “It will also contribute to environmental conservation.”
Shah said that ever since Rekha Gupta became the Chief Minister of Delhi, continuous work has been underway under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership to clean the Yamuna. “We will be able to achieve the goal of a clean Yamuna by 2029. When the Yamuna becomes clean, the Ganga also becomes clean, because ultimately the Yamuna merges with the Ganga at Prayagraj,” Shah said in the meeting.
He said that until the dream of cleaning the Yamuna is fulfilled, the dream of a clean Ganga will also remain incomplete.
Shah also said that the Chief Minister of Delhi and all concerned stakeholders are moving forward with full cooperation and dedication towards making the Yamuna clean. He expressed confidence that just as all the parties worked with a common purpose and in the same direction to reach this agreement, all the states will similarly work in one direction to complete the project. This will enable us to clean the Yamuna at the earliest and provide crores of people with water for drinking, agriculture, development and industrial use.
‘Historical’ Kishau Agreement
Terming the Kishau agreement a historical move, Shah expressed confidence that once the project is completed, this event will become an important chapter in history. He said that the agreement reached today will benefit Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi in one way or another.
Shah said that the most important aspect is that all six states have given their consent and signed the agreement. Union Home Minister congratulated the Chief Ministers of all six states and the Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri CR Patil, for playing an important role in bringing the project to this stage.
He said that the Central government and the Chief Ministers of these six states of the Yamuna basin are committed to completing the project at the earliest.
Project Details and Financials
Noting that the Government of India has declared the Kishau Multipurpose Project a National Project, Shah pointed out that the Centre will bear approximately 90 per cent of its financial burden, while the remaining 10 per cent will be borne by the participating states in accordance with the 1994 agreement.
He said that the government of Uttarakhand had certain difficulties. On behalf of the government of India, Shah further said: “We have assured them that efforts will be made to accommodate their demands under the schemes of the Centre, and going forward, we will also assist Uttarakhand in bearing the financial burden that may fall upon the state.”
Project Specifications and Benefits
The Minister further said that a 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam will be constructed on the Tons River, which flows along the border of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, with a water storage capacity of 1,562 million cubic metres. It will irrigate 97,000 hectares of land and generate 1,476 million units of clean hydropower.
He said that Delhi will be the biggest beneficiary of the project. (ANI)
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