Khajuraho, Dec 25: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a roadshow after arriving in Madhya Pradesh’s Khajuraho to lay the foundation stone of the Ken-Betwa river linking project on the occasion of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 100th birth anniversary on Wednesday.
He later paid floral tribute to Vajpayee at an event to launch several development projects in Khajuraho
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and BJP state chief V.D. Sharma welcomed PM Modi at the Khan airport. From there, PM Modi reached the venue in an open vehicle and was welcomed with a shower of flowers. People had gathered in large numbers on the route raising slogans and waving flags. CM Mohan Yadav accompanied the PM on the decorated vehicle.
Soon after reaching the venue, PM Modi reviewed the exhibition of the Ken-Betwa project. During this, a senior official of the MP government, who is associated with the project, briefed PM Modi about the Ken-Betwa project. People, who came from different parts of Bundelkhand to witness the historic moment, welcomed PM Modi with flowers and slogans.
Before PM Modi’s arrival, MP BJP organised a Kalash Yatra from Katni to Khajuraho. The venue of the event where ‘bhoomi pujan’ of the Ken-Betwa river link project will be performed by PM Modi, has been decorated beautifully.
The Rs 49,000-crore project, the country’s first river-linking initiative under the national river interlinking policy, aims to address drought and migration issues in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The project is expected to give irrigation benefits of more than 8.11 lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh and 59,000 hectares in Uttar Pradesh, impacting around seven lakh farmers and stabilising existing irrigation facilities. It also aims to provide drinking water to 44 lakh people in Madhya Pradesh and 21 lakh in Uttar Pradesh, alongside generating 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar energy. It also includes the restoration of 42 Chandela-era heritage ponds to enhance groundwater.
The Ken-Betwa is the largest irrigation project in the country, adopting an underground pressurised pipe irrigation system. The project involves constructing a 77-meter-high Daudhan Dam on the Ken River within the Panna Tiger Reserve, transferring surplus water to the Betwa River via a 221-km canal.
It is expected to improve forest ecosystems and mitigate floods in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district. The Daudhan reservoir will provide drinking water to wild animals in the Panna Tiger Reserve throughout the year, improve the forest ecosystem and bring relief to Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district from the flood menace.
–IANS
