"Will complete East Rajasthan Canal Project in next 5 yrs": Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Alwar (Rajasthan): Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Saturday said that the East Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) would be completed in the next five years.

The ERCP project, announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2017-18, aims to provide drinking and irrigation water to 13 districts in eastern Rajasthan.

Earlier today, Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat attended the East Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) Dhanyawad Yatra in Alwar's Barodamev.

"Narendra Modi ji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) has taught that whatever work you envision and lay the foundation stone of, you should also inaugurate it. We will work to complete ERCP and provide water to your homes in five years. This modified PKC-ERCP (Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal -East Rajasthan Canal Project (PKC-ERCP) project will serve as the life-giving Ganga for Eastern Rajasthan," Shekhawat said while addressing a public gathering.

Taking a jibe at former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, he said, "Gehlot was raising ERCP like a political inferno. The central government was being put in the dock. Then I went to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister then told me that there was no need to stop anywhere; think something new and move ahead. He showed the way for PKC-ERCP."

The Union Minister said that quenching people's thirst was not Ashok Gehlot's priority.

"Politics came first for Ashok Gehlot. Quenching people's thirst was not his priority. He did not make any efforts in this direction. We held meetings several times in Delhi. Among them, the Rajasthan officials accepted that if the technical flaws were removed then the project could come to fruition, but Ashok Gehlot's aim was not to provide relief to the people. They aimed to use it as a political weapon. He or his ministers never attended any meetings. Then I resolved that after ousting the Congress Congress from Rajasthan, I would work to give the gift of EICP to Eastern Rajasthan within a month," he said.

"The revised PKC-ERCP link project will cost Rs 45,000 crore in Rajasthan. We will ensure that drinking water reaches the homes of 3.5 crore people in 13 districts (new 21 districts) uninterrupted for the next 40-50 years. An irrigation area of 2.8 lakh hectares will be irrigated in this area. More than 30 small and big ponds and dams will be filled. I am seeing the day that in 5 years when this project is completed, the groundwater in all these 13 districts will come back to the level which it was at 20-30 years from now," he added.

Highlighting the benefits of the PKC-ERCP Project, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, "Ashok Gehlotji was repeatedly saying that the central government is talking about a scheme which will reduce water, but let me tell you, in the ERCP which was envisioned by Vasundhara ji, Rajasthan would have got about 3600 MCM of water. Now this project we have made will provide 3700 MCM water. Apart from this, 3000 MCM additional water will come during flood times. Not a single dam or pond will remain empty in 13 districts."

Emphasizing the tenure of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the last 10 years, "Modi ji's resolution is that there should be change in the homes of the poor of the country. There should be prosperity in his house. Today we can see the impact of the schemes started by the Prime Minister on the ground. In the last 10 years under Modiji's rule, 25 crore people have come out of the poverty line. On behalf of the Prime Minister, I assure you all that the Government of India will not leave any stone unturned in this. With the blessings of the Prime Minister, the Government of India will provide 90 percent of the money for the PKC-ERCP project. Only 10 percent of the money will have to be borne by the Rajasthan government. The face of Rajasthan and East Rajasthan will change in the next 5 years."

Recently, an MOU was signed between the Government of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan regarding the revised East Rajasthan Canal Project.

The revised version of the project aims to provide drinking and industrial water in 13 districts of eastern Rajasthan, Malwa, and Chambal regions of Madhya Pradesh apart from providing irrigation in 2.8 lakh ha. area (or more) each in both the states (total of 5.6 lakh ha or more) including supplementation of en route tanks in the states.

The Modified PKC link project will help in utilizing the available water resources of the Chambal basin optimally and economically. The various components of the Modified PKC link including areas of benefit shall be firmed up at the DPR stage in consultation with Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.