38th Annual General Meeting of NWDA Society and 22nd Meeting of Special Committee for Interlinking of Rivers held at New Delhi

20 December 2024, Delhi: 38th Annual General Meeting of NWDA Society and 22nd Meeting of Special Committee for Interlinking of Rivers (SCILR) were held under the chairmanship of Shri C.R. Patil, Hon’ble Minister for Jal Shakti. Shri C R Patil mentioned about the recent progress made upon MPKC (Modified Parbati Kalisindh Chambal ) and Ken Betwa Link Project. He also apprised about recent program organized in Jaipur for the inauguration of various projects of Rajasthan along with declaration of signing of the MoA upon MPKC link project by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. At the same time, he requested other States to make consensus upon their respective link projects for further progress in the development of our country.

Secretary (DoWR, RD & GR), highlighted that substantial progress of Interlinking of Rivers programme, were made during recent years. She specifically mentioned about Ken-Betwa Link project which is first link of National Perspective Plan under implementation. The Secretary mentioned that management of the Water Resources has been one of the key priorities of Government of India and Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) Programme has been accorded top priority by Government.

During the meeting, a detailed presentation on the agenda items was made by Director General, NWDA. The status of various works and the pending issues/bottle necks etc. for ILR projects, Annual Report & Audited Accounts for the year 2023-24 of NWDA and Intra State links were discussed at length. The representatives of various State Govts. expressed their views/observations on their corresponding ILR projects.

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