Six states in JV for ₹4,000 cr dam on Yamuna

The Union government together with six other north Indian states have recently entered into an agreement and signed a pact for building the Lakhwar dam in Uttarakhand in the Upper Yamuna basin at an investment of ₹4,000 crore. The MoU was signed by Nitin Gadkari, Water Resources Minister, with each of the six chief ministers – Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi, Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh, Vasundhara Raje Scindia of Rajasthan, Trivendra Singh Rawat of Uttarakhand, Manohar Lal of Haryana, Jai Ram Thakur of Himachal Pradesh. The project will be funded 90% by the Centre, with the remaining cost to be borne by the States. Upper Yamuna refers to the stretch of river from its origin to the Okhla barrage in Delhi. This project will raise storage levels and increase the water availability in the Yamuna by 65%. The States will get more water for drinking, irrigation and industrial use during December-June period, Union Minister, Nitin Gadkari claimed.