Raj urges Centre to give canal project a ‘national’ status

MEGA PROJECT ERCP aims to provide drinking water to 13 districts

JAIPUR: The state government has again urged the Centre to give a national project status to the East Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) that aims at providing drinking water to 13 districts and irrigation water for 2.8 lakh hectare.

In a letter to the jal shakti ministry, the state water resources department said that no project in Rajasthan has got this status though it has been given to 16 projects in other states. “In a project with the national project status, the funding ratio is 90:10 between the Centre and a state. For ERCP, the government of India will contribute 60% of the funds and the state will give 40%,” said a senior official of the department.

Under the ₹37,247-crore ERCP, 2.8 lakh hectare will get irrigation water through 26 large and medium projects. “Under the project, the surplus water in the sub-basins of Kunnu, Kul, Parvati, Kalisindh and Mej rivers received during monsoon has to be carried to the sub-basins of Banas, Morel, Banganga, Gambhir and Parbati rivers,” the official said.

The project will ensure water for drinking and irrigation purposes to Jhalawar, Baran, Kota,

SENIOR OFFICIAL, water resources department, Rajasthan

In a project with the national project status, the funding ratio is 90:10 between the Centre and a state. For ERCP, the GOI will contribute 60% of the funds and the state will give 40%

Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Tonk, Jaipur, Dausa, Karauli, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts till 2051.

In February, chief minister Ashok Gehlot had written to jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, seeking a national project status for ERCP. He had also raised this issue before Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting of NITI Aayog in June last year. He reminded Modi about his promise made during a public meeting in Rajasthan and urged the PM to give an early approval of the status to ERCP.

The previous BJP government led by Vaundhara Raje had also demanded a national project status to ERCP.