Hope for ‘national project tag’ as CWC team to visit Haldwani

The main benefit of the national project would be the centre will pay 90% of the costs of the project and the rest would be borne by the state government.

A team of Central Water Commission (CWC), New Delhi, would be visiting Haldwani on April 23 to assess the conditions for the upcoming Jamrani dam project so that the construction work can begin. The significance of the visit is that this would be the first visit by any central team to the state and it also nurtures the hope of the project being declared as a national project. The Jamrani dam issue has been held up since the last 43 years when it was conceived in 1970s. Construction work on the dam, which would provide drinking water to both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, has not been started due to lack of approvals. 

Proposed site of Jamrani Dam in Nainital district.(HT PHOTO)

During the campaigning for the 2017 Uttarakhand assembly elections, Nainital Lok Sabha MP Bhagat Singh Koshyari had said that the project would be started from April 2017 if the BJP came to power in the state. After the elections, BJP did emerge victorious in Uttarakhand and formed the government, after which the work of paperwork of the dam was speeded up. The formation of BJP government in UP, too, is said to have facilitated the process. 

Now, the irrigation department has sent proposal to the central team that this be declared as a national project, that would help in facilitating the construction work. The main benefit of the national project would be the centre will pay 90% of the costs of the project and the rest would be borne by the state government. 

LK Sharma, chief engineer (Kumaon) of the irrigation department, said that a team of engineers of the Central Water Commission, that would be led by chief engineer Sidharth, would reach Haldwani on April 23 and conduct ground assessment till April 24. 

The final Detailed Project Report of ₹2,800 crore would be examined by the team and it will send a report to the centre. “The team’s visit might also be a precursor to this being declared as a national project”, Sharma said.