Khajuraho, Dec 25, 2024, IANS

Khajuraho, Dec 25 (IANS) Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said laying the foundation of the Ken-Betwa river linking project will be the start of a new era of Bundelkhand region in both Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The Union Minister said the Bundelkhand region was deprived of progress during the Congress regime. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming to Madhya Pradesh to perform bhoomi pujan of Ken-Betwa river linking project. It's a matter of pride that this occasion has come on the birth anniversary of our great leader and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It will be the start of a new era of Bundelkhand," Chouhan said. Ahead of PM Modi's arrival, the Madhya Pradesh BJP organised a 'Kalash Yatra'. Water for Kalash Yatra was brought from the origin point of river Ken in Katni. State BJP chief and Khajuraho Lok Sabha member V.D. Sharma led the Kalash Yatra. He was joined by Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, Rural Development Minister Prahlad Singh Patel along with several other BJP leaders. The venue of the event where the 'bhoomi pujan' of the Ken-Betwa river link project will be performed by PM Modi, has been decorated beautifully in saffron colour and BJP flags. The Rs 49,000-crore project, the country's first river-linking initiative under the national river interlinking policy, aims to address drought and migration issues in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The project is expected to give irrigation benefits of more than 8.11 lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh and 59,000 hectares in Uttar Pradesh, impacting around seven lakh farmers and stabilising existing irrigation facilities. It also aims to provide drinking water to 44 lakh people in Madhya Pradesh and 21 lakh in Uttar Pradesh, alongside generating 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar energy. It also includes the restoration of 42 Chandela-era heritage ponds to enhance groundwater. Ken-Betwa is the largest irrigation project in the country, adopting an underground pressurised pipe irrigation system. The project involves constructing a 77-meter-high Daudhan Dam on the Ken River within the Panna Tiger Reserve, transferring surplus water to the Betwa River via a 221-km canal. It is expected to improve forest ecosystems and mitigate floods in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district. The Daudhan Reservoir will provide drinking water to wild animals in the Panna Tiger Reserve throughout the year, improve the forest ecosystem and bring relief to Uttar Pradesh's Banda district from the flood menace.