PM Modi to inaugurate Saryu Nahar National Project in UP's Balrampur

Prime Minister will inaugurate the Saryu Nahar National Project at Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district on Saturday. The project is said to benefit about 29 lakh farmers and assures water for irrigation land of over 14 lakh hectares. This involves the inter linking for 5 rivers as well.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Saryu Nahar National Project at Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district on Saturday. The project is assured to provide water for irrigation of over 14 lakh hectares of land and benefit about 29 lakh farmers of more than 6,200 villages in the region, his office said.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the project has been built at a total cost of over Rs 9,800 crore, out of which more than Rs 4,600 crore was provisioned in the last four years. It includes the interlinking of five rivers -- Ghaghara, Saryu, Rapti, Banganga and Rohini -- to ensure optimum usage of water resources of the region.

The statement aid the project's work started in 1978 but due to lack of continuity of budgetary support, interdepartmental coordination and adequate monitoring, it got delayed and was incomplete for four decades.

The prime minister's vision for farmer welfare and empowerment, and his commitment to prioritise long pending projects of national importance, brought much needed focus on the project. Adding to it, the project was brought under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana with the target to complete it in a time-bound manner in 2016, the statement said.

In this endeavour, innovative solutions were found for new land acquisition to construct new canals and fill the critical gaps in the project, and also for resolving the pending litigation related to the previous land acquisitions, it said.

The renewed focus has resulted in the project being completed in only about four years.

The nine beneficial districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh are Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur and Maharajganj, the statement said.

The farmers of the region, who suffered the worst of the inordinate delay will now immensely benefit from the upgraded irrigation potential.They will be able to grow crops on a larger scale and maximise the agri-potential of the region, it said.

PTI