Work is set to resume on the much-awaited 422 MW Kishau Hydropower project after an eight-year deadlock was broken. Stakeholding states agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to restart the dam construction. Interestingly Himachal Pradesh agreed to give its share of dam water to Delhi and Rajasthan in return for the two states sharing the cost of the power component.
Stakeholder states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the long-pending Kishau Multipurpose Dam Project to restart work after eight long years. This decision was taken in a high-level meeting of representatives from all states, led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday.
The Union government bills the project as an important step toward rejuvenating the Yamuna River; the dam will be constructed over the Tons River, which borders Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The dam is expected to add a huge volume of fresh and clean water to the Yamuna, which will help clean the river going forward.
Information shared by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirms that all six states agreed to sign an MoU for the implementation of the Kishau Multipurpose Project. According to Dhami after the MoU, the project proposal will be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.
Apart from Shah those present at the meeting in Delhi included Union Minister of Power Manohar Lal, Union Minister of Jal Shakti CR Patil, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Union Home Secretary, Union Water Resources Secretary, the Secretary of the Ministry of Power, and the Chief Secretaries of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Ministry of Jal Shakti also attended the meeting.
It was decided that the Union government will bear 90 percent of the project cost as central assistance, and the six participating states will share the remaining 10 percent financial burden.
It’s notable that the Kishau Multipurpose Project was kept on hold for the past nearly eight years because stakeholders were unwilling to cooperate in sharing their portion of the cost. Himachal Pradesh was not very keen to cough up its share of the cost because the state was disinterested in taking water from the dam. This was the reason why Himachal’s share was diverted to Rajasthan and Delhi, informed officials in the Uttarakhand power department.