Vinod Bhat
New Delhi: At an important meeting held in New Delhi today under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah, consensus was reached among the concerned states on the long-pending Kishau Multipurpose Dam Project for the rejuvenation of the Yamuna River. Following the initiative of the Union Home Minister, the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the implementation of the Kishau Multipurpose Project. Following the signing of the MoU, the project will be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.
The meeting was attended by Union Minister of Power Shri Manohar Lal, Union Minister of Jal Shakti Shri C. R. Patil, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Shri Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Union Home Secretary, the Union Water Resources Secretary, the Secretary of the Ministry of Power, the Chief Secretaries of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Central Government has been translating the principle of ‘Solutions Through Dialogue’ into action by building consensus on important issues of national and public interest that had remained unresolved for many years.
The meeting decided that 90% of the cost of the water component of the Kishau Multipurpose Dam Project will be borne by the Central Government as Central Assistance, while the remaining 10% financial burden will be shared by the six participating states.
The meeting also reached a consensus to allocate Himachal Pradesh’s share of water to Delhi and Rajasthan in return for sharing the cost of Himachal Pradesh’s portion of the power component. This decision will prove to be a significant milestone in the journey towards a cleaner and rejuvenated Yamuna, ensuring an increased flow of clean water in the river.
