Centre's nod for two river-linking projects in Maha expected

Two river-linking projects for Maharashtra are expected to get a green signal from the Centre as the Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti will be holding a meeting here tomorrow to review draft primary project reports (PPRs).
The Central Water Commission has approved 18 river-linking projects in the country, which includes Damanganga-Pinjal and Nar-Par for Maharashtra. The CWC has also approved the draft PPRs for the two projects.
"We expect Umaji to give her final approval for Damanganga-Pinjal and Nar-Par," state Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan said today.
The Damanganga-Pinjal river is a trans-valley diversion project aimed at transporting water from the Damanganga basin in Valsad in Gujarat to Pinjal basin through the Vaitarna basin in Nashik. From there, the water will be diverted to Mumbai through Tansa river.

"From the Nar-Par intra state project, we expect to give relief to farmers in drought-hit areas like Nashik, Malegaon and Jalgaon. Besides these two, there are ten other projects that are feasible," Mahajan said.