MP throws spanner in project, PMO steps in to solve row

THE MP GOVERNMENT WROTE TO THE CENTRE DEMANDING A REVIEW OF THE WATER SHARING PACT SIGNED IN 2005 AND INCLUSION OF NEW COMPONENTS IN THE PHASE I OF THE PROJECT

The Prime Minister’s Office has stepped in to resolve the dispute between the Union water resources ministry and Madhya Pradesh government after the latter demanded inclusion of new components in Phase-I of the Ken-Betwa river linking project.

The country’s first river linking project, connecting Ken river in Madhya Pradesh with Betwa in Uttar Pradesh, was all but ready to get cabinet approval when the dispute started between Uma Bharti headed water resources ministry and MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government.

The MP government wrote to the Centre demanding a review of the water sharing pact signed in 2005 and inclusion of new components in the Phase I of the ₹16,000crore project. Bharti’s ministry is upset over this last minute demand. “This could further delay the project, which recently got environment and forest approval after a delay of two years,” said a ministry official.

The MP government also wants UP’s water share to be reduced. “In a meeting held last month with all the stakeholders, the PMO has directed both MP and UP government to sort out their water sharing issue,” an official added.

The river interlinking project was the brainchild of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. It has been mired in controversies from the word go. The Ken-Betwa link was supposed to start in December 2015.

The MP government has said that it wouldn’t give no objection certificate (NOC) to the project if the three local water management projects — Kotha barrage, Lower Oar and Beena complex — are not included in Phase I. NOC from the two states is a must for the project to get cabinet nod. UP has already given the NOCs.

The three projects that Chouhan wants are yet to get the necessary regulatory clearances.

“These three are part of Phase II of the project. Suddenly why do they want it to be part of Phase I?” said a senior ministry official.