CM Gehlot writes to PM demanding national project status for East Rajasthan Canal Project

Jaipur: Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday demanding the state's ambitious East Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) be declared a national project. According to an official statement, the project will ensure availability of drinking water and for irrigation in 2.8 lakh hectare area in 13 districts of Rajasthan.

The state government had sent a detailed project report of ERCP to the Central Water Commission for necessary approval in November 2017.

Gehlot said that in the past, the Centre has given national project status to drinking water and irrigation projects in 16 different states, but no such project of Rajasthan has this status.


"Due to the serious problem of drinking water in many districts of the state, it is necessary to give this project the status of a national project and ensure its quick implementation," the statement said.

The ERCP project will ensure adequate water availability for drinking and irrigation by the year 2051 in 13 districts including Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Tonk, Jaipur, Dausa, Karauli, Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur.

According to the detailed project report of the ERCP, the project is supposed to access the surplus waters of the sub-basins of the rivers Kunnu, Kul, Parvati, Kalisindh and Mej during the monsoon into the sub-basins of the Banas, Morel, Banganga, Gambhir and Parbati rivers.

The chief minister had previously in July this year written a letter to the prime minister in this regard.