More than 650 hectares of Uttarakhand land in grip of forest fires
Though no loss of life has been reported so far, officials say with the rise in mercury level the blaze is going out of control.
The central government Wednesday approved the inclusion of Uttarakhand’s Jamrani Dam Multipurpose Project under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana-Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (PMKSY-AIBP). The decision was taken during a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing a press briefing, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that the Centre will provide Rs 1,557 crore to Uttarakhand for completion of the Jamrani Dam project. The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 2,584 crore and it is scheduled to be completed by March 2028.
What is the Jamrani Dam project?
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According to a government release, the Jamrani Dam project envisages construction of a dam near Jamrani village across river Gola, a tributary of river Ram Ganga, in Nainital district of Uttarakhand. The dam would feed the existing Gola barrage, through its 40.5 km length of canal system and 244 km long canal system, which was completed in 1981.
In addition to this, the dam will provide irrigation water for 57,065 hectare (9,458 ha in Uttarakhand and 47,607 ha in Uttar Pradesh) in Nainital & Udham Singh Nagar districts of Uttarakhand, and Rampur & Bareilly districts in Uttar Pradesh.
Apart from construction of two new feeder canals, 207 km of existing canals are to be renovated and 278 km pucca field channels are also to be taken up under the project.
In addition, the project also envisages hydro power generation of 14 MW, as well as provision of 42.70 million cubic metre (MCM) of drinking water to Haldwani and nearby areas benefitting more than 10.65 lakh population.
While both Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh will get the irrigation benefits of the project, drinking water and power benefits will be available entirely to Uttarakhand.
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