The Maharashtra government on Wednesday approved large-scale irrigation in the Marathwada region after a spate of farmer suicides this year.
The approval was given to the ambitious Wainganga-Nalganga river linking project which will irrigate around four lakh hectares of land, officials said. This will provide great relief to the farmers suffering from drought.
The ambitious Wainganga-Nalganga river linking project will facilitate irrigation on a large scale which will help reduce farmer distress in the districts which have witnessed a number of farmer suicides. The project will be pushed ahead at a cost of Rs 87,342 crore.
As per the plan, the water will be brought from River Godavari to Wainganga Project in Buldhana district. For this, a total of 426.52 kilometres of culverts will have to be constructed. It will be used for irrigation, drinking water and industrial purposes in Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Akola, Buldhana or 15 talukas of Vidarbha district.
Its detailed project report was submitted by the National Water Development Agency in 2018. The Central Water Commission has also given its recognition and in the meeting of the State Water Council, this project has been included in the Integrated State Water Supply
Source: India Today