2 river projects to be approved.

River interlinking projects including the Damanganga-Pinjal and Nar-Par are likely to come into existence in the next few years, with Union water resources minister Uma Bharti planning to hold a meeting of concerned officials in Mumbai recently to review the draft Primary Project Report (PPR).

The Central Water Commission (CWC) has approved 18 inter-river linking projects in Maharashtra, including the Damanganga-Pinjal, which will reportedly fulfil the state's drinking water and industrial requirements. The CWC has given the go-ahead to the draft PPR.

Girish Mahajan, water resources minister of the state, said, 'Ms Bharti will come to Mumbai to take stock of the river interlinking projects across the state. Though the CWC has approved 18 projects and given its nod to the draft PPR, Damanganga-Pinjal and Nar-Par will get final approval from the Union minister.' Mr Mahajan added that Ms Bharti would also take stock of on-ground water recharge schemes during the meeting to be held at the Sahyadri Guest House.

In the project involving linking of the Damanganga river in Gujarat to the Pinjal river in Maharashtra, surplus water from the Damanganga basin will be transferred to the Pinjal basin through three proposed dams and two tunnels, before being supplied to Mumbai for domestic distribution. The cost of the project is likely to be between Rs. 800 crore and Rs. 900 crore. The project aims to provide around 1,600 million litres daily (MLD) for augmentation of domestic supply to Mumbai, apart from an additional 865 MLD to be drawn from the proposed Pinjal dam, raising the total volume of water to around 2,450 MLD.

According to the report of the state water resources department, the Nar-Par-Girna valley intra state link project is not feasible, but the state is still pushing for it so as to provide relief to drought-affected areas from Nashik, Malegaon and Jalgaon.

The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has approved the pre-feasibility report (PFR) of the Damanganga-Pinjal project and Par-Tapi-Narmada instead of the Nar-Par-Girna; the report of the water resources department said.


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