The Union government will bring consensus among States before initiating the proposal to inter-link five major rivers in the country, Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel said on Wednesday
Addressing a press conference at the BJP office, he said the proposal to link Damanganga-Pinjal, Par-Tapi-Narmada, Godavari-Krishna, Krishna-Pennar and Pennar-Cauvery rivers would be a major development in the country.
“The detailed project report for the inter-linking of rivers has been prepared and the work for providing Central assistance will start soon as there is an agreement among the States. It is the duty of the Centre to bring consensus among all the States on the issue. Whenever the history of the development of country will be written, our significant achievement will include river inter-linking campaign,” he said.
Work on inter-linking Ken and Betwa rivers had begun. The linking of these rivers in MP and UP at a cost of ₹44,605 crore would help irrigate 9.09 lakh hectares of agriculture land and provide drinking water to 62 lakh people, he said.
The Minister said the Union government was committed to providing all financial assistance to the Union Territory. The Centre had sanctioned ₹30 crore under Jal Sakthi programme for Puducherry, he said.
Minister for Home A. Namassivayam and BJP president V Saminathan were present during the event.