Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday wrote a letter to Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, demanding to declare the state's ambitious Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) as a national project.
In the letter, Gehlot wrote that the project worth Rs 37,247 crore proposed to provide drinking water to 13 districts along with water for irrigation to 2.8 lakh hectares of land through 26 various large and medium projects with the ERCP.
According to the detailed project report of the ERCP, which has been submitted to Central Water Commission for approval, through this project the surplus water in the sub-basins of Kunnu, Kul, Parvati, Kalisindh and Mej rivers received during monsoon has to be carried to the sub-basin of Banas, Morel, Banganga, Gambhir and Parbati rivers.
Citing that the union government had earlier given the status of the national project to 16 various projects, the Chief Minister said: "As of today, no project in Rajasthan has got this status. Due to the serious drinking water problem in many districts of the state, it is necessary to give this project the status of a national project and to ensure its early implementation.
Gehlot had raised this issue before Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting of NITI Aayog in June last year. He had reminded the Prime Minister about his promise made during a public meeting in Rajasthan and had demanded to give early approval to ERCP as a national project.