SARYU Canal Project Is A Boon To Millions

UNVEILING  of the long-awaited  AIIMS and the fertilizer plant in Gorakhpur alongside Saryu Canal National Project by PM Narendra Modi in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh close to Bihar and the Himalayan nation of Nepal will benefit billions of people in the region besides accelerating socio-economic activities. It however remains an arduous task to find an alibi as to why the work on the Saryu National Project commenced in 1978  was completed after 43 years. It will provide assured water for irrigation to over 14 lakh hectares of land and benefit about 29 lakh farmers mainly in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The project has been completed at a cost of over Rs 9,800 crore. More than Rs 4,600 crore was provisioned in the last four years. The Saryu canal project also involves the interlinking of five rivers — Ghaghara, Saryu, Rapti,  Banganga and Rohini — to ensure optimum usage of water resources of the region. The work on the project started in 1978 but due to lack of continuity of budgetary support, interdepartmental coordination and adequate monitoring, it had been unduly delayed, an official statement said In 2016, the project was brought under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana with the target of completing it in a time-bound manner. The renewed focus has resulted in the project being completed in only about four years, it said.  From Rs. 78 crores in 1977-78 to a staggering Rs. 7270.32 crore in 2010 with a cost escalation of massive proportions (SNP). The major irrigation project got momentum, 36 years after it was re-started.  Due to The Haldia-Jagdishpur pipeline, Gorakhpur Fertilizer Plant has not only started, but dozens of districts of Eastern India have started getting affordable piped gas. This fertilizer factory will not only give enough urea to many farmers but will also create thousands of new employment and self-employment opportunities in Purvanchal. Now a new possibility of economic development will emerge and many new businesses will start. Along with the ancillary industries associated with the fertilizer factory, the transportation and service sector will also get a boost. Edited by PK Chakravarty