State seeks ₹412 cr from Centre for dam to stop water to Pak

PUNJAB HAS ALSO DEMANDED THAT

THE DAM BE ACCORDED THE STATUS OF A NATIONAL PROJECT

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government on Wednesday requested the Centre to release ₹412 crore to construct a dam at Makora Pattan on the Ravi-ujj confluence in Gurdaspur district to stop India’s river water share flowing into Pakistan.

The state also demanded that the dam be accorded the status of a national project.

During a meeting with Union minister for water resources, road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari, state rural development and panchayat minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and water resources minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria said with the construction of this dam about 600 cusecs of river water flowing into Pakistan could be stopped and Punjab will be able to use water for irrigation.

The state ministers told Gadkari that a 7km-long channel would be constructed to carry this water in the Kalanaur-ramdas canal system to irrigate 1 lakh acre land which does not have irrigation facilities.

“The state government will also be able to utilise this water to provide clean drinking water to 100 villages and six towns in the border area,” they added.

Bajwa and Sarkaria also asked the Union minister to decide on the Center-state funding pattern for the already approved project for strengthening and uprade of the Upper Bari Doab Canal.

“At present, only 2.76 lakh hectares of a total area of 5.13 lakh hectares is being irrigated. But with the completion of this project, the remaining area would also be covered under canal irrigation,” they said.

They also appealed to Gadkari to extend the Jammu-katra express highway project up to Amritsar, Dera Baba Nanak and Kalanaur to facilitate devotees ahead of the 550th Parkash Purab of Guru Nanak.