The state government on Thursday declared a Rs 10,886 crore river linking project, asserting that it would not allow a single drop of water from its rivers go unclaimed to the neighbouring state of Gujarat. The government stated that 434 thousand million cubic (TMC) feet of water from the state flowing to Gujarat would be reclaimed from upstream Ukai dam. Therefore, there should be no reason to worry about the state losing its quota of water in the inter-state river linking project.
The work under the national river linking project has been taken up after discussions with Maharashtra, Gujarat and the Centre. Sources said the final draft is under way and the Centre would provide 90 per cent funds. The remaining 10 per cent would be provided by the state government.
The central aspect of the work includes the Damanganga-Pinjal river linking project that would help resolve the drinking water problems of Mumbai. Water from Damanganga Valley, around 579 TMC, would serve the purpose. The project cost of the two river linking project is Rs 2,746 crore.
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The state government has pushed four more projects to retain its water share — Nar-Par-Girna (362 TMC ), worth Rs 4,500 crore, Par-Godavari (97 TMC) worth Rs 990 crore, Damanganga-Viatarna-Godavari (202 TMC) worth Rs 1,800 crore and Damanganga-Godavari (143 TMC) worth Rs 850 crore. Apart from the four projects, the Damanganga-Pinjal river linking project of 579 TMC aims at providing drinking water to Mumbai city.
