| MP, Maharashtra sign MoU for Tapti Basin Mega Recharge Project | | |  AGENCIES
BHOPAL, May 10: Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra on Saturday signed an MoU to jointly roll out the Tapti Basin Mega Recharge project, described by officials as the world's largest groundwater recharge programme.
People of both the states will benefit from the project which will help address the problem of saline groundwater faced by Akola, Buldhana and Amravati districts of Vidarbha, said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
He was speaking after inking, with his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Mohan Yadav, the Memorandum of Understanding to jointly execute the project.
"The project will benefit both states. It is necessary for Maharashtra, particularly for places having salty drinking water issue....It will change the composition of the `salty water belt' of Akola, Buldhana and Amravati (in eastern Maharashtra). People living in these areas will get a big relief," Fadnavis said.
Madhya Pradesh irrigation minister Tulsi Silavat and his Maharashtra counterpart Girish Mahajan were also present at the function.
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are like brothers, Fadnavis said, recalling that eastern Maharashtra's Vidarbha region was once a part of Madhya Pradesh. "I hail from Nagpur which was once the capital of MP (then called `Central Provinces and Berar'). We have an old connection," he said.
Prior to the signing of the MoU, the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra inter-state control board meeting over water issues took place after 25 long years, Fadnavis noted.
At the meeting, both states agreed to jointly take forward other projects including Jamghat on Kanhan river project which can meet Nagpur's water needs, Fadnavis said.
The Kanhan river originates in MP's Chhindwara district and flows through parts of Maharashtra.
Fadnavis recalled that 27 years ago, in 1998, he had taken part in an inter-state control board meeting in Madhya Pradesh.
"I (as then Nagpur Mayor) along with then Maharashtra Chief Minister came and we discussed the scheme, but now those discussions are bearing fruit," he added.
"We have agreed on it in principle. It will benefit both Maharashtra and MP. Importantly, this 10 TMC water (from the Jamghat project) has been allocated to Nagpur....Nagpur will get water for the next 30...40 years," he said while thanking MP chief minister Yadav.
"The next inter-state control board meeting will be held in October," Fadnavis informed.
The Narendra Modi government at the Centre in 2016 gave a push to inter-state water projects, he noted.
MP and Maharashtra had earlier requested the Union government to take up the Tapti project under a central scheme, he said, adding that he and Yadav will approach the Centre again and request financial assistance under a formula like the one used for the Ken-Betwa project.
The Tapti project is the world's largest recharge scheme, he noted.
The Tapti river (called Tapi in Maharashtra) originates in Madhya Pradesh's Betul district and flows through parts of Maharashtra. The project aims to channelise adequate water to north-eastern Maharashtra including Nagpur for drinking purposes, and to southern Madhya Pradesh, particularly Chhindwara district, for irrigation.
The total water usage of the Tapti Basin Mega Recharge Project will be 31.13 thousand million cubic (TMC) feet of which 11.76 TMC has been allocated to Madhya Pradesh and 19.36 TMC to Maharashtra, officials said.
The project will need 3,362 hectares of land in Madhya Pradesh without displacing any villages, thus saving money on rehabilitation, they added.
The joint venture will facilitate irrigation of 1,23,082 hectares of land in MP and 2,34,706 hectares in Maharashtra. In Madhya Pradesh, the project will benefit the tehsils of Burhanpur, Nepanagar, Khaknar and Khalwa across Burhanpur and Khandwa districts. |
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