Smaller states have water grid projects, why not Maha, asks

Senior BJP leader and former Maharashtra minister Babanrao Lonikar on Tuesday asked why the Marathwada region cannot have a water grid scheme when other states with smaller economies like Gujarat and Telangana have constructed such projects.

The BJP has been on protest mode in the region ever since Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar recently said the feasibility of the Marathwada project will have to be checked before work on it can go ahead.

The project was sanctioned under the previous Devendra Fadnavis government and is one of the BJP's flagships schemes for the parched region.

"The project was planned to curb water shortage. Money is not the constraint, ensuring ample water is our aim. The excess water flowing into neighbouring states can be utilised by constructing the water grid," Lonikar told PTI.

"When Gujarat can have a grid to bring Narmada water to drought prone areas there, and Telangana, with a budget not exceeding Rs 1.22 lakh crore, can have one, why not Marathwada in Maharashtra," he asked.

Marathwada, with eight districts, has traditionally been a low-rainfall area and the grid project aims to create an integrated piped network to supply water for drinking, industrial and agricultural purposes all through the year.