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Six states sign agreement for long-pending Kishau multipurpose project
Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana signed the MoA for the Kishau project, with 90% of its water component cost to be funded by the Centre
In a significant milestone for inter-state cooperation and development of water resources in the upper Yamuna basin, chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for the construction of the Kishau multipurpose project on Tuesday in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Nearly 28 MoAs were signed among the six states and the Centre. Two project-specific agreements on Renuka ji and Lakhwar multipurpose projects have already been executed, and these projects are under construction. The agreement on the Kishau multipurpose project is the third project on which an agreement for construction has been entered into between the six states.
Union Minister for Jal Shakti CR Patil, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Secretary of the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, and the chief secretaries of the participating states were also present in the meeting, which lasted for around an hour.
Officials said the signing of the historic agreement marks an important step towards the realization of the long-pending Kishau multipurpose project and reflects the spirit of cooperative federalism and collective commitment of the Centre and the basin states for sustainable development and optimal utilization of the water resources of the Yamuna basin.
The Kishau multipurpose project is proposed on the River Tons, a major tributary of the Yamuna River in Uttarakhand's Dehradun district and Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district. The project envisages the construction of a 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam with a live storage capacity of 1,562 million cubic metres (MCM). It also envisages irrigation benefits to approximately 0.97 lakh hectares of agricultural area with an annual energy generation of approximately 1,476 million units.
