Maharashtra News: Wainganga-Nalganga River Linking Project To Cost ₹98,000 Crore; CM Devendra Fadnavis Seeks 25% Funding From Central Govt

Mumbai: Vidarbha-Marathwada river linking project cost reaches Rs 98,000 crore; CM orders to submit plan within a month. To speed up the project, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday informed that he will request the Central Government to bear 25 per cent of the project cost.

The cost of the ambitious Wainganga-Nalganga river linking project, undertaken by the government to resolve water shortage in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of the state and provide sustainable water supply to agriculture, has reached Rs 98,000 crore. To speed up the project, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday informed that he will request the Central Government to bear 25 percent of the project cost.

CM Fadnavis spoke at a review meeting of the Wainganga-Nalganga river linking project at the Sahyadri Guest House on September 8. Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, Additional Chief Secretary of the Water Resources Department Deepak Kapoor, Principal Secretary of the Planning Department Saurabh Vijay, Secretary of the Water Resources Department Sanjay Belsare, Executive Director of the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation Rajesh Sontakke, Chief Engineer of the Gosikhurd Project Sanjay Gawli and others were present on the occasion.

Through the Wainganga-Nalganga river linking project, 62.57 million cubic feet (TMC) of water will be lifted from the Gosikhurd reservoir during the monsoon and brought to the Nalganga project through a 388-km long linking canal. This will provide water to about 4 lakh hectares of area in Bhandara, Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Akola, Washim, Buldhana districts.

Fadnavis ordered the state-level technical advisory committee to examine the project and submit a detailed project report by October 15. This project should be accelerated with a time-bound planning. For this, a letter will be sent to the central government and the government will follow up to see if at least 25 percent of the project can be obtained from the central government. Fadnavis said that the necessary funds will also be made available from the state government.

The survey work from Gosikhurd to Lower Wardha in the first phase of the project has been completed on time. Fadnavis also said that the first phase of the project should start immediately after obtaining environmental clearance for further work.