Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Centre is committed to ensuring a regular supply of water for drinking and irrigation purposes in the 13 districts of eastern Rajasthan.
He said a draft plan for a major project, combining the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) and the old Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal link, has been shared by the Centre with the governments of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
“The draft has been included in the list of priority-based projects by the special committee on rivers. The Centre will definitely think of advancing it when the governments of both the states agree on it,” Modi said at a public rally organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan’s Dausa district.
Earlier, at another programme held a few kilometres away, where Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot reminded the prime minister that he had promised to accord priority to the ERCP at his election rallies in the past.
Addressing the gathering through a video link from the chief minister’s residence in Jaipur, Gehlot said during his election rallies in Jaipur and Ajmer in the past, Modi had said a decision would be taken on giving priority to the project. “It is expected that you will say something on the ERCP,” the Congress leader said.
He said it was agreed in principle that 50 roads in Rajasthan will be converted into national highways, but a gazette notification to that effect is yet to be issued. The chief minister also said the detailed project report (DPR) of an elevated road in Jodhpur has been prepared and the project needs to be taken up further.
He said it is expected that the pending proposals of the state government will be cleared by the Centre.
Recalling the contributions of former prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh as regards highway construction and infrastructure development, Gehlot also lauded Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari for the initiatives taken by him in this sector.
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