Minister for Jal Shakti C R Patil asked the states to evolve a consensus on their respective river interlinking projects for the progress in the development of the country. Chairing the 38th annual general meeting of the NWDA Society and 22nd meeting of the Special Committee for Interlinking of Rivers (SCILR), he mentioned the recent progress made on MPKC (Modified Parbati Kalisindh Chambal ) and Ken Betwa Link Project and apprised about a programme organised in Jaipur for the inauguration of various projects of Rajasthan along with declaration of signing of the MoA upon MPKC link project by the prime minister.

The Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR, highlighted that substantial progress was made in the direction of interlinking of rivers during recent years.

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She specifically mentioned the Ken-Betwa Link project which is the first link of the National Perspective Plan under implementation.

The secretary stated that the management of the water resources has been one of the key priorities of the Central government Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) Programme.During the meeting, a detailed presentation on the agenda items was made by the director general of the NWDA.

The status of various works and the pending issues/bottlenecks, etc. for ILR projects, annual report, and audited accounts for the year 2023-24 of the NWDA and intra-state links were discussed at length. The representatives of various state governments. expressed their views/observations on their corresponding ILR projects.

Rajbhushan Choudhary, Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Minister WRD, Bihar, Swatantra Dev Singh, Minister (Irrigation & WRD), Uttar Pradesh and K. Lakshminarayanan, Minister, PWD, Puducherry attended the meeting.Roshy Augustine, Minister,WRD, Kerala, Shruti Chaudhary, minister, WRD, Haryana and Kuvarjibhai Bavaliya, Minister,WRD, Gujarat were present at the meeting virtually. Senior officers from various Central and state departments also participated in the meeting.