New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) The phase I and phase II of thegovernment's ambitious Ken-Betwa river linking project will beclubbed, meaning its cost will be revised, sources in theUnion Water Resources Ministry said today.
The phases will be clubbed after Madhya Pradesh, one ofthe two beneficiary states, demanded so, the sources said.
The Centre's ambitious project, which has got almost allmajor environmental clearances, hit a roadblock earlier thisyear when the Madhya Pradesh government allegedly objected toit.
The state government had allegedly warned that the firstphase of the project would not be allowed to take off if itwas not reworked to incorporate three other smaller projects -Lower Orr dam, Bina complex and Kotha barrage projects - inthe initial phase.
The three projects were to be implemented in the secondphase, according to the original plan for the Rs 18,000-croreproject, which aims to connect the rivers Ken in MadhyaPradesh and Betwa in Uttar Pradesh.
"The issues raised by Madhya Pradesh have nearly beensorted out. These works will be carried out in one phase. Thecost will accordingly have to be revised," the sources said.
The project may be executed based on a 90:10 fundingpattern between the Centre and the states respectively, thesources said.
They added that a meeting of officials representing theCentre and the two states is expected to be held later thismonth to discuss and sort out the remaining issues.
"We may be required to procure some clearances again,"the sources added.
They said the Madhya Pradesh government has expressedconfidence it will be able to irrigate more land under theriver-linking project even if the water allocation between thetwo states remains the same. PTI ENMABH.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.