Congress-ruled Rajasthan, miffed with the Centre’s recent missive to halt work on the proposed Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) until issues with BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh are resolved, has not only rejected the neighbouring State’s objections but also hit out at New Delhi over not adhering to the spirit of federalism.
An all-party meeting on ERCP, convened here on Sunday, reiterated the project’s significance for the State and offered to send a team of experts to the Centre for holding talks on its technical aspects. Rajasthan has maintained that it was utilising its share of water within its own borders and the “lack of consent” by other States was irrelevant.
Though the Ashok Gehlot government has been demanding national project status for quite some time for the ambitious project that is set to benefit 13 districts with over 3.5 crore population through the interlinking of the Parvati, Kali Sindh and Chambal rivers, for quite some time, the Union Jal Shakti Ministry Secretary recently wrote to the State’s Chief Secretary directing a pause on work to take Madhya Pradesh’s concerns on board.
Mr. Gehlot had criticised Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, an MP from Jodhpur, saying he had failed to protect the interests of his own State. The BJP finds itself in a tight spot because any clearance will allow Mr. Gehlot to claim credit while the refusal or delay will go against the party in the 13 districts during the 2023 Assembly election.
2005 agreement, objections
The Inter-State Water Control Board had decided in an agreement signed in 2005 that any of the two States could use water from its own catchment area as well as 10% of the water received from the catchment areas of the other for any project. Madhya Pradesh has got its own projects cleared as per the decision taken in the inter-State meeting.
At the all-party meeting, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot pointed out that the Centre had failed to respond to as many as 11 letters sent by the State government urging it to accord the national project status to the ERCP.
Terming the objection to its project baseless, Mr. Gehlot said Madhya Pradesh had constructed the Mohanpura dam on the Newaj river, a tributary of Parvati river, and the Kundalia dam on Kali Sindh river, developing about 2.65-lakh hectare irrigation area in its territory. Madhya Pradesh obtained the no-objection certificate from Rajasthan after the construction of dams in 2017.
A significant aspect of Madhya Pradesh’s objection is related to the water dependability. According to the agreement between the two States, a project for water supply can be formulated only on 75% water dependability, whereas the detailed project report (DPR) of ERCP is based on 50% water dependability. This will result in the breach of agreement, according to the neighbouring State.
Rajasthan claims to have prepared the DPR on ERCP in accordance with the Inter-State Water Control Board’s decision and in compliance with the 2010 guidelines of the Central Water Commission (CWC). Mr. Gehlot said an average of 19,000 million cubic metres (MCM) of Chambal river waters flowed into the sea every year, as per the CWC’s data of 36 years, while the ERCP sought to utilise only 3,500 MCM water.
The CWC had approved the water study of the project in 2016 and its DPR was prepared during the previous BJP regime. Any delay in its implementation is likely to lead to a sharp increase in cost, at present estimated at ₹37,200 crore.
The all-party meeting again raised the demand for the national project status for ERCP. If accorded, the new status will fix the share of the Centre and the State in the expenditure in the ratio of 90:10 and facilitate solution to the water scarcity issue in eastern and south-eastern districts of Rajasthan at least till 2051.
‘Betrayal of promise’
The ruling Congress has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of betraying the people after promising to declare the ERCP a national project during his rallies before the 2018 Assembly election.
Mr. Gehlot said if the Centre did not give the status, the State would go ahead with the work from its limited resources. A budgetary announcement has been made this year for constructing the Navnera-Bisalpur-Isarda link, Mahalpur barrage and Ramgarh barrage at a cost of ₹9,600 crore. This work will be started in 2022-23 and completed by 2027.
While Mr. Gehlot said the issue was beyond politics and all parties should exert pressure on the Centre, State Water Resources Minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya said Rajasthan did not need any no-objection certificate from Madhya Pradesh for the project as all the terms of the 2005 agreement had been complied with.
State Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi, who attended the all-party meeting, said a special session of the Assembly could also be convened to discuss the ERCP. Former Chief Minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje was conspicuous by her absence in the all-party meeting.
