Lucknow: The picture of Bundelkhand, which once faced water crisis, will change in eight years. The Yogi government is making special efforts to complete the Ken-Betwa project on time to provide a permanent solution to the irrigation and drinking water crisis in this region. 

Now Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh will also be connected with this project. After the order of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, work has started on the plan to include Hamirpur in the project.

10.62 lakh hectares of land will be irrigated

The Ken-Betwa project will provide water for irrigation of a total of 10.62 lakh hectares of land in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Apart from this, 62 lakh people will get drinking water. 

Under the project, two barrages will be built in Uttar Pradesh and seven dams will be built on the rivers of Madhya Pradesh. These will produce 103 MW hydro power and 27 MW solar power. 

21 km stretch in Uttar Pradesh

Bundelkhand region includes five districts of UP namely Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi, Hamirpur and Lalitpur. These five districts of UP will get about 750 million cusecs of water from this project. 

More than 2.51 lakh hectares of land in these districts will be irrigated. The 221 meter long link channel that will be built to connect Ken and Betwa, 21 kilometer of which will fall in Uttar Pradesh. 

The project is targeted to be completed in 8 years

The cost of this project three years ago was approximately Rs 44,605 ​​crore. Ninety percent of the project's cost will be borne by the central government and UP will have to bear only five percent of the cost. The target has been set to complete this project in eight years at any cost. 

The Ken-Betwa project will benefit Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri districts of Madhya Pradesh and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi, Lalitpur and Hamirpur districts of Uttar Pradesh. The Union Cabinet had approved the Ken-Betwa project about three years ago. 

Government's efforts are paying off

The Yogi government has made several efforts for pure drinking water and irrigation of fields in Bundelkhand. With the completion of Arjun Sahayak Canal along with other small and medium projects, the area under irrigation has increased here. 

The Khet Talab Yojana has not only increased the water holding capacity of the land here, but also irrigated the fields during drought and quenched the thirst of the cattle. The dream of the river linking scheme was seen two decades ago by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.