June 27, 2025 10:07 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Law student allegedly gang-raped in Kolkata college, three arrested | India calls for merit-based treatment of US visa applications as Trump administration tightens rules | Black box data of crashed Air India aircraft recovered and downloaded: Govt | India refuses to sign SCO joint statement lacking Pahalgam attack but featuring Balochistan unrest | I ended India-Pak conflict with a series of phone calls on trade: Donald Trump reiterates 'ceasefire' claim | Constitution is supreme, all three wings work under it: CJI BR Gavai | Andhra Pradesh murder: Police say wife and her lover killed 26-year-old Tejeswar | 'Vladimir Putin called to help with Iran, I refused': Donald Trump | Engineering issues: British High Commission on F-35 fighter jet stuck in Kerala | Don't ask permission to fly: Shashi Tharoor after Mallikarjun Kharge's snub over article praising PM
221-km-long canal will carry surplus Ken river water to Betwa river, providing drinking, irrigation facilities. (Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)

PM Modi to launch Ken-Betwa river linking project on Vajpayee's birth anniversary

| @indiablooms | Dec 25, 2024, at 12:06 am

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the Ken-Betwa river linking project in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, on December 25.

The date marks the birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, more than 23 years after the project was first conceptualised.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav highlighted the transformative potential of the project, stating it would benefit 4.4 million people across 10 districts in Madhya Pradesh and 2.1 million in 12 districts of Uttar Pradesh, reported Hindustan Times.

Together, these regions form the water-scarce Bundelkhand area.

The project will also irrigate nearly one million hectares of farmland and generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar energy once completed in an estimated five years.

“This project will change the image and destiny of Bundelkhand,” Yadav said.


Key Features of the Project

The Ken-Betwa river linking project is the largest irrigation initiative in India, employing an underground pressurised pipe irrigation system. Key components include:

Daudhan Dam: A 77-metre-high, 2.13-kilometre-long structure on the Ken river within the Panna Tiger Reserve.

Tunnels: Two tunnels, 1.9 km and 1.1 km long, to transfer water.

Link Canal: A 221-km-long canal to carry surplus Ken river water to the Betwa river, providing drinking and irrigation facilities.

While the project promises to address water scarcity, it will submerge approximately 40% of the Panna Tiger Reserve and adjoining forest areas.

However, Yadav noted that the Daudhan reservoir would provide year-round drinking water for wildlife in the reserve, enhancing the forest ecosystem.

The project gained momentum after PM Modi assumed office in 2014.

A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on March 22, 2021, between the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and the Union Jal Shakti Minister in the presence of PM Modi to implement the project.

This monumental initiative is expected to redefine the Bundelkhand region's socio-economic and ecological landscape.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Close menu