Rajasthan and Haryana signed the Yamuna Water Agreement, ending a 30-year deadlock. CM Bhajan Lal Sharma called it a breakthrough for the Shekhawati region, which will now receive water via a Rs 34,102 crore pipeline project.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Tuesday hailed the signing of the long-pending Yamuna Water Agreement with Haryana, a day after it was formally signed in New Delhi, calling it a major breakthrough for the state’s Shekhawati region.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Sharma said, “Yesterday, on June 29, a decision was reached among our Home Minister Amit Shah, Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, and myself; Rajasthan’s historic Shekhawati region will also receive water. Yesterday, a major water-related issue was resolved.”
A ‘Historic Decision’ for Rajasthan
He emphasised his government’s broader efforts to resolve decades-old, stalled projects for Rajasthan, citing the Ram Jal Setu scheme. “In the last two and a half years, solutions have been found for projects that Rajasthan had been awaiting for decades, and work on these schemes has commenced. An agreement was reached on the Ram Jal Setu scheme–which had long been stalled between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan–and today, work on projects worth Rs 24,000 crore is underway. A historic decision was taken on June 29. Soon after our government was formed, we signed an MoU with the Haryana government on February 12, 2024, to ensure Rajasthan receives its rightful share of water–as stipulated in our 1994 agreement, ” he said.
The project seeks to facilitate the conveyance of Rajasthan’s allocated share of Yamuna waters through an underground pipeline system from the Western Yamuna Canal, enabling the State to effectively utilise the water allocated to it under the 1994 Memorandum of Understanding on the sharing of utilisable surface waters of the Upper Yamuna Basin.
He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for resolving an issue that had eluded earlier governments. “There were many instances when Congress governments were in power in Rajasthan, Haryana, and at the Centre, yet they never truly understood our difficulties. I wish to thank the Prime Minister for grasping the gravity of Rajasthan’s water crisis,” said the CM.
Project Details and Implementation
Rajasthan and Haryana on Monday signed the long-awaited Yamuna Water Agreement in New Delhi, ending a three-decade-long deadlock and paving the way for the implementation of a Rs 34,102 crore water infrastructure project aimed at redefining the water landscape of Rajasthan.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and senior officials from the Centre and both state governments.
According to a release, the project will transport Rajasthan’s allocated share of 577 million cubic metres (MCM) of Yamuna water from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana to the Hansiawas Reservoir in Churu district through a 295.5-kilometre underground pipeline network.
The project will comprise three pipelines, each measuring 3.6 metres in diameter, along with an inspection motorway, artificial reservoirs and a modern digital water management system. The project also includes provisions to supply drinking water to ten locations in Haryana.
The Rajasthan government said the Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been uploaded on the Central Water Commission’s e-PAMS portal, while the Haryana government has granted in-principle approval for the proposed pipeline alignment. A dedicated Special Purpose Vehicle, the Rajasthan Haryana Yamuna Water Project-SPV (RHYW-SPV), will be established to oversee the execution, operation and maintenance of the project. (ANI)
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