New Delhi, Chief Ministers of six north Indian states signed an agreement for Renukaji Multipurpose Dam here on Friday, which aims to fulfil the water needs of these states, said an official statement.
The agreement was signed by Arvind Kejriwal, Ashok Gehlot, Yogi Adityanath, Manohar Lal Khattar, Jai Ram Thakur and Trivendra Singh Rawat — the Chief Ministers of Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, respectively.
Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, said: “There is enough water available in the country but the real issue is effective water management.”
Talking to the media after the signing event, Kejriwal said this will help in solving the water crisis in the national capital.
“The project was pending for long. I thank and congratulate Gadkari for his efforts on this project,” Kejriwal said.
Renukaji Dam project has been conceived as a storage project on Giri river (tributary of river Yamuna) in Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh, said the government statement.
“The project envisages construction of 148-metre high rock-filled dam for supply of 23 cumec water to Delhi and other basin states,” it said.
“After construction of the dam, the flow of river Giri will increase by about 110 per cent which will meet the drinking water needs of Delhi and other basin states up to some extent in the lean period,” it added.
Gadkari also presided over the signing of concession Agreement for Namami Gange projects in Prayagraj, earlier Allahabad.
The agreement included two projects for sewage management and was signed under the ‘One City One Operator’ concept’ among UP Jal Nigam, National Mission for Clean Ganga and Prayagraj Water Pvt Ltd.
“The trans-Ganga/Yamuna areas in Prayagraj (Naini, Phaphamau & Jhunsi) currently do not have any sewage treatment facility and pollute Ganga and Yamuna.
“Prayagraj town already has a comprehensive sewerage and sewage treatment facilities. However, these are with different operators and without long-term sustainable mechanism for Operation and Maintenance (O&M),” the ministry said.
The current project includes construction of three sewage treatment plants of total capacity 72 million litres per day (MLD), (Naini: 42 MLD, Phaphamau: 14 MLD and Jhunsi: 16 MLD).
