Gehlot demands national project status for proposed Eastern Rajasthan Canal

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has demanded that the Centre declare the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) a national project, according to a statement on Thursday.

It said the chief minister had written a letter in this regard to Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

In the letter, Gehlot said the ERCP will provide drinking water to 13 districts of the state and irrigation facility for 2.8 lakh-hectare land. He said it was necessary to give national project status to the initiative to ensure its early implementation, according to the statement.

If Rs 37,247 crore worth ERCP is declared a national projet, bulk of the funding for the project will come from the Centre and the approvals and permissions related to the project will be taken up on priority, an official said.

Through the project, availability of water for drinking and irrigation will be ensured in eastern Rajasthan's districts like Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Tonk, Jaipur and others, the statement said.

Gehlot had raised this issue before Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting of NITI Aayog in June last year, it said.