PM Modi To Inaugurate Saryu Nahar National Project In Uttar Pradesh. Know How It Will Benefit The State

The project will benefit nine districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, namely Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur and Maharajganj

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Rs 9,800-crore Saryu Nahar National Project in Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district on Saturday. The project is aimed at providing water for irrigation of over 14 lakh hectares of land and benefit around 29 lakh farmers of more than 6,200 villages, according to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Prime Minister Modi will visit Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh and inaugurate the Saryu Nahar National Project on December 11 at around 1 PM, the PMO said in a statement on Friday.

What’s the significance of the Saryu Nahar National Project?

The project has been built at a total cost of over Rs 9,800 crore, out of which more than Rs 4,600 crore was provisioned in the last four years. It will also interlink five rivers -Ghaghara, Saryu, Rapti, Banganga and Rohini – for optimum usage of water resources of the region.

It will benefit nine districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, namely Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur and Maharajganj, the statement said.

The farmers of the region, who were the worst sufferers of the inordinate delay in the project, will now immensely benefit from the upgraded irrigation potential, it said.

They will now be able to grow crops on a larger scale and maximise the agri-potential of the region, it added.

What are the reasons behind delay in project?

Started in 1978, the project faced several hurdles owing to lack of continuity of budgetary support, interdepartmental coordination and adequate monitoring. It delayed the project which could not get completed even after nearly four decades, the PMO said.

The prime minister's vision for farmer welfare and empowerment, and his commitment to prioritise long pending projects of national importance, brought much needed focus on the project, the statement said.

Consequently in 2016, the project was brought under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana with the target to complete it in a time-bound manner, the PMO said.

In this direction, innovative solutions were found for new land acquisition to construct new canals and fill the critical gaps in the project, and also for resolving the pending litigation related to the previous land acquisitions, it said.