CWC rubbishes reports of rejecting funds for Gujarat's SAUNI project

The Central Water Commission (CWC) on Tuesday issued a clarification on the Gujarat Government's request for funds for the Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation Yojana (SAUNI).

It was earlier reported in the media that the CWC had rejected the Gujarat Government's request for funds for the SAUNI Yojana on technical grounds, questioning the feasibility of the project.

The External Assistance Directorate of the CWC claimed that a section of the press had incorrectly reported the matter.

The CWC said the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has conveyed its 'in-principle' approval of the SAUNI-II Project to the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India in October, 2016.

Elaborating on the facts, the CWC said as a standard operating procedure, all major and medium irrigation projects are required to undergo technical evaluation by the CWC and that states should submit a compliance report on the observations of the CWC.

"This is a continuous, consultative process, which is taken both at the Preliminary Project Report (PPR) and Detailed Project Report (DPR) stages," the CWC said in a statement.

It further added that in the case of the SAUNI-II Project, the CWC had made certain observations on the Preliminary Project Report submitted by the Gujarat Government.

"The State Government has since submitted a detailed compliance report and the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has recommended the SAUNI-II Project to the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India, for obtaining external assistance," it added.

It may be mentioned that SAUNI is a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister had inaugurated the first phase of SAUNI at Aji-3 Dam near Rajkot on August 30, 2016.

Again, on April 17 this year, Prime Minister Modi dedicated to the nation Phase-1 (Link 2) of SAUNI project at Botad. Here, he also laid the foundation stone of Phase 2 (Link 2) of the project.

SAUNI is an ambitious plan to fill 115 reservoirs in water-scarce Saurashtra with waters of overflowing Narmada.