NEW DELHI, September 16: Six states have signed an agreement for the Kishau Multipurpose Project, marking a major step towards implementation of the proposed storage dam on the Tons River along the Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh border.
The agreement was signed in New Delhi on September 15 by the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Patil.
The project envisages construction of a 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam on the Tons River, a major tributary of the Yamuna. The proposed reservoir will have a storage capacity of 1,562 million cubic metres.
Once completed, the project is expected to provide irrigation benefits to around 97,000 hectares and generate about 1,476 million units of clean hydropower annually. The stored water will also support drinking water, agricultural, industrial and other requirements of the participating states.
The Kishau project has National Project status. It was identified as a National Project in 2008 along with the Lakhwar and Renukaji multipurpose projects in the Upper Yamuna basin.
Under the funding arrangement announced by the Centre in June, the Union government will provide 90% of the cost of the project’s water component as central assistance, while the remaining 10% will be borne by the participating states.
The latest agreement follows a meeting chaired by Shah on June 16, when the six states reached a consensus on moving ahead with the project and agreed to sign an MoU for its implementation.
As part of that understanding, Himachal Pradesh’s share of water from the project will be allocated to Delhi and Rajasthan. In return, Delhi and Rajasthan will share the cost corresponding to Himachal Pradesh’s share of the project’s power component.
The project is being developed through Kishau Corporation Limited and has a planned installed hydropower capacity of 422 MW, comprising four units of 105.5 MW each.
Kishau is one of three major storage projects planned in the Upper Yamuna basin. An agreement for the Lakhwar Multipurpose Project was signed among the six basin states in August 2018, followed by an agreement for the Renukaji Multipurpose Project in January 2019.
The projects are intended to augment regulated water availability in the Yamuna basin for irrigation and drinking-water requirements. The Centre has said Delhi is expected to be among the major beneficiaries of additional water availability from Kishau.
The Kishau agreement also takes forward an inter-state arrangement dating back to May 12, 1994, under which the Upper Yamuna basin states agreed on allocation of Yamuna waters and envisaged separate agreements for major storage projects in the basin.
Read also: India approves up to 654 MW power export to Nepal through December after floods
Read also: 147 auctioned commercial coal mines could draw ₹55,000 crore investment, says Coal Ministry
