Enough water available, key is efficient water management: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

India has enough water but the real issue is effective management of the precious natural resource-water, said Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Shipping and Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari here on Friday during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for Renukaji dam project.

"There is enough water available in the country but the real issue is effective water management," he said. Terming the signing of the agreement for Renukaji dam project as a historic moment, Union Minister Gadkari said that the government will try to get the Cabinet approval as soon as possible.

He added that a consensus on Kishau multi-purpose project on river Yamuna has also been developed and soon an agreement for it will also be signed. He also informed about the Lakhwar multi-purpose project for which agreement was signed on August 28, 2018, among six basin states.

Union Minister Gadkari was speaking after the signing of MoU with the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot, Uttarakhand's Trivendra Singh Rawat, Haryana's Manohar Lal, Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal, and Himachal Pradesh's Jai Ram Thakur here for the construction of Renukaji multi-purpose Dam project in the upper Yamuna basin.

Gadkari also presided over the ceremony of signing of concession agreement for Namami Gange projects in Prayagraj under Hybrid Annuity Mode and One-City-One-Operator concept. The agreement was signed amongst Akhil Kumar from the National Mission for Clean Ganga, Anil Kumar Srivastava from UP Jal Nigam and Dilip Pormal from Prayagraj Water Pvt Ltd.

Extending his gratitude to all Chief Ministers, Gadkari said that these projects will benefit all basin states and it is a win-win situation for everyone. He added that these projects will also ensure more flow in river Yamuna which is the need-of-the-hour.

Ministers of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Arjun Ram Meghwal and Dr Satya Pal Singh along with Secretary UP Singh were also present on the occasion. During the event, documentaries on Renukaji multi-purpose Dam project and Namami Gange projects in Prayagraj were shown.

It is worth mentioning that Renukaji dam project has been conceived as a storage project on Giri river (a tributary of river Yamuna) in Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh. The project envisages construction of 148 M high rock-filled dam for the supply of 23 cumec water to Delhi and other basin states. The project will also generate 40 MW of power during peak flow. The project is proposed to be executed by Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. (HPPCL). The live storage of Renukaji MPP is 0.404 MAF and total submergence area is about 1508 hectares in the territory of HP.