Modi’s promise of new canal to Rajasthan put on fast track

True to Prime Minister’s promise in a rally in Jaipur on Saturday, the Water Resources Ministry of Nitin Gadkari has put on fast track the Rs 40,451 Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project on the Chambal river, rushing its proposal for the Union Cabinet’s approval without any loss of time.

Besides benefiting Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s home district Jhalawar, the canal, proposed to be ready in seven years, will benefit 12 other districts of Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Kota, Bara, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Tonk, Dausa and Karoli.

Envisaged on the lines of the Indira Gandhi Canal in western Rajasthan, the mega project proposes to harvest surplus yield of the southern rivers of Rajasthan and transfer it to the deficit basins in southeastern Rajasthan. The chief minister was pushing for the project for the past one year wanting it to be declared a national project, but her dream became the reality once she explained its political importance to Gadkari last month and got it included in the PM’’s first election rally ahead of the Assembly elections.

The new canal is in line with the Modi government’’s attempts to assuage the farmers who are reeling under crop surplus, including a hike in the minimum support prices (MSP) for kharif crops announced a couple of days ago. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who has tried to woo the farmers with the farm loan waiver, will use the canal project as another attempt to explain how she is addressing the state’’s biggest problem of water to solve the irrigation woes of the farming community.