Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP)

Mains level: Irrigation woes of India

canal

Rajasthan has brought up the issue of the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project or ERCP before the Prime Minister.

Why in news?

The Chief Minister has said that it is not possible for the state government to bear the estimated project cost of around Rs 40,000 crore by itself.
The state wants the Centre to declare this as a national project so that the cost-sharing ratio between the Centre and the state becomes 90:10.

Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP)

ERCP was incepted with the aim of providing water to the drought-prone areas of the state.
It aims to harvest surplus water available during the rainy season in rivers in southern Rajasthan, such as the Chambal and its tributaries Kunnu, Parvati, and Kalisindh.
The project consists of the construction of two canals:

The ERCP is expected to irrigate about 3.4 million hectares of agricultural land in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh states.
It is estimated to cost about Rs 51,000 crore and was expected to be completed by 2021.
The project was expected to benefit about 2.6 million farmers in Rajasthan and an additional 2.4 million in Madhya Pradesh.

In the state Budget for 2017-18, then Rajasthan government had said that the ERCP will help fulfil the long-term irrigation and drinking water needs of 13 districts: Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Tonk, Jaipur, Karauli, Alwar, Bharatpur, Dausa, and Dholpur.
The project was approved by the Central Water Commission in 2017.
The state government had sent a proposal to the central government to declare ERCP as a project having national importance.