Ken-Betwa interlinking project to be launched soon: Uma Bharti

NEW DELHI: The Ken-Betwa project, the first river inter-linking project in the country, is set to "take off any day" now, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

Water Resources minister Uma Bharti said all environmental and related clearances have been obtained and once the Madhya Pradesh and the Uttar Pradesh governments agree on the water sharing issue, the project's launch date would be announced.

She said the inter-linking of all the planned rivers will help generate over 30,000 MW of power.

Ken-Betwa link is one of the 16 river-linking proposals under Peninsular Component of National Perspective Plan (NPP) for Water Resources Development for which feasibility report was prepared by the National Water Development Agency in 1995 and circulated among the concerned state governments.

A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding was signed among the union government and the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on August 25, 2005 in the presence of the Prime Minister for preparation of Detailed Project Report for the project.