Minimising wastage of Ravi river water; Shahpurkandi Dam implementation gets Cabinet nod

Dec 6, Delhi: The proposal for Shahpurkandi Dan, Punjab on Ravi river was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on Dec 6, 2018. The objective of the project is to minimize the wastage of some of the water of the River Ravi going through Madhopur Headworks downstream to Pakistan. Central Assistance of Rs. 485.38 crore will be provided for the irrigation component over five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23.

“On completion of the project an Irrigation Potential of 5,000 ha in Punjab State and 32,173 ha in J&K State would be created”, said the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley.

”Some of the water from Ravi is going through Madhopur Headworks downstream to Pakistan to wastage, whereas there is requirement for the same water in Punjab and J&K. It has been causing problems for a long time now which will be minimized by the implementation of this project”, he added.

Indus Waters Treaty was signed by India and Pakistan in 1960 for sharing of Indus waters. India got the full rights for utilization of the waters of the three eastern rivers Ravi, Beas and Satluj.

In addition to the minimization of wastage, water being released to provide irrigation in 1.18 Lac ha area under UBDC system in Punjab would be managed/regulated efficiently through this project and the irrigation in the area would be benefitted. Also, Punjab would be able togenerate 206 MW of hydropower.

The project will also create massive employment opportunities. The implementation of the scheme would generate 6.2 lakh man-days employment of unskilled workers, 6.2 lakh man-days for semi-skilled and 1.67 man-days employment for skilled workers.