New Delhi, 15 September (H.S.): The Kishau Multipurpose Project, which has been pending for nearly six decades, is set to receive a major push on Tuesday. An agreement will be signed among six states in connection with the project at Kartavya Bhavan in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil, along with the chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, will be present at the meeting, while Rajasthan and the National Capital Territory of Delhi are also key stakeholders in the agreement.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, whose state is governed by the Congress, has already left Shimla for Delhi and will personally attend the signing ceremony. The agreement is being viewed as a significant achievement for the Himachal Pradesh government, as the Centre has accepted one of the state’s key demands and agreed to bear 90 per cent of the cost of the project’s water component. This will substantially reduce the financial burden on Himachal Pradesh.

The Kishau project has been proposed on the Tons River. The project is envisaged to generate around 660 MW of electricity, besides developing facilities for irrigation and drinking water supply. The estimated cost of the project is around Rs 15,000 crore. Of this, approximately Rs 2,000 crore relates to the power component, while the Centre will bear a major share of the substantial cost of the water component.

Under the proposed arrangement, water allocated to Himachal Pradesh will be utilised in Delhi and Rajasthan, among other concerned states. In return, the participating states will be assigned financial shares in the cost of the power component of the project. The agreement among Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi will establish a new framework for the sharing of water and electricity.

The Kishau Multipurpose Project has remained stalled for a long time due to the lack of inter-state consensus and a clear financial arrangement. Following high-level meetings held in June, the states reached an understanding on the project. The Memorandum of Understanding to be signed on Tuesday will now formally give effect to that consensus.

Once the project is implemented on the ground, it is expected to strengthen power generation in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, while improving irrigation and water supply in Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. A large number of farmers and people in the beneficiary regions are expected to benefit from the project.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will arrive in Una on Wednesday morning after signing the Memorandum of Understanding in Delhi on Tuesday. He will participate in the Anti-Chitta Walkathon scheduled to be held on September 16. The event has already been postponed three times.

Thereafter, on September 18, the Chief Minister will visit his assembly constituency, Nadaun. At around 11:30 a.m., he will lay the foundation stone for the Sadhaura Pattan Bridge at Dariyal village in Chamral panchayat.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar