New Delhi/Mumbai, July 28 (UNI) Stating that the Maharashtra government is committed to augmenting water supply to the parched Marathwada region, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde urged the Union government to accelerate the river interlinking projects in the state, an official said on Sunday.
He was speaking during the meeting of the Governing Council of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the Ashok Mandap in Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Saturday.
According to the official press statement, Shinde said that rainwater flows away in large quantities in Konkan and it is necessary to utilize it.
He also said that because of floods in Sangli and Kolhapur every year, water flows into the sea.
The state government is trying to intercept this water and take it to Godavari basin in the Marathwada region.
The Chief Minister further said that the state government is going to implement a scheme worth Rs 14.40 thousand crore for the diversion of 22.9 thousand million cubic (TMC) feet of water from the West flowing rivers to the Godavari basin.
He said that Daman Ganga-Pinjaal, Konkan to Godavari basin, Konkan to Tapi, Wainganga-Nalganga and Tapi interlink schemes are going to be implemented.
Shinde also said that the Wainganga-Nalganga river link project will help irrigate 3,71,277 hectares of land in Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Akola and Buldhana districts.
If these projects are accelerated by the Union government, lakhs and lakhs of people and farmers will be benefited, added Shinde.
