The Congress government in Rajasthan has once again raised the issue of granting the national project status to the proposed Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP), which will transfer excess waters from the Chambal river basin to 13 districts facing water scarcity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to declare the ERCP a national project during his rallies before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to declare the ERCP a national project during his rallies before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

 

At a pre-Budget meeting of Finance Ministers in New Delhi, State Urban Development Minister Shanti Dhariwal said on Wednesday that the ERCP was a significant project for supplying drinking and irrigation water to vast sections of the population. “Its construction should be started as early as possible in view of difficult geographical conditions of Rajasthan,” he said.

The previous Bharatiya Janata Party government in the State had also lobbied for the Centre’s approval for the ambitious project with an estimated budget of ₹40,000 crore as a major initiative for interlinking of rivers.