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This time, water share for rabi crops hurts Ken-Betwa link agreement

In January this year, Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari had said that the project would commence in March and both states would come aboard to sign the final agreement.

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Differences between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh over water sharing has blocked the final agreement on Centre's flagship Ken-Betwa river linking project. In January this year, Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari had said that the project would commence in March and both states would come aboard to sign the final agreement. But, both states are yet to concur on sharing the water that will be transferred from the Ken River basin to the Betwa River basin.

As per the 2005 MoU signed between the two states, MP is supposed to get 1,687 million cubic metre (MCM) of water, while 1,700 MCM is supposed to go to Uttar Pradesh from the Daudham dam, the main component of the river linking project. This apart, MP gets 2,226 MCM water upstream. The UP government has demanded that it should get 935 MCM for its rabi crops alone, but Madhya Pradesh has said that only 700 MCM should be given. This has remained a sticking point.

Earlier this week, Nitin Gadkari had said that he hoped the two states would resolve the issue at the earliest. This is not the first time the project has got delayed due to differences between the two states. Last year, Madhya Pradesh demanded that three smaller water management projects — Kotha barrage, Lower Orr, and Bina Industrial complex — from Phase-II be clubbed with Phase-I.

Gadkari held meetings with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and eventually the Centre accepted MP's demand. As a result, the project's revised cost now stands at Rs 28,000 crore approximately, and the Centre is going to fund 90 per cent of the project. According to official data, 9 lakh hectares would now be irrigated after clubbing Phase-I and Phase-II.

The Ken-Betwa river linking project was revived by the NDA government. The project involves construction of the Daudhan dam on Ken River inside Panna Tiger Reserve and will submerge over 50 sq km of dense forest in the tiger reserve. The water from the dam would then be diverted to Betwa River basin through a 221 km-long link canal.

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