Congress MLA Anant Patel says will go ahead with Aug 14 protest

On August 10, Dhaval Patel wrote a letter to the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti seeking the current status of the Par-Tapi-Narmada river link project.

In its reply, the Union Jal Shakti Ministry said: “In the 21st Special Committee for Interlinking of Rivers (SCILR), meeting held on 14th December 2023, this project was also reviewed, and it was recorded that the ministry has discontinued this project from the status of Priority links under NPP.”

A copy of the document, signed by Senior Joint Commissioner Avanti Verma of the Union Jal Shakti Ministry, is with The Indian Express.

Speaking on the occasion, Dhaval Patel accused the Congress of spreading fake information on the Par-Tapi-Narmada link project.

“The Central and state governments had in 2022-23 clarified that such a project had been discontinued. Today, we have received an official letter from the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti stating that the project has been discontinued. The DPR (Detail Project Report), which the Congress leader released, was of 2017,” Dhaval Patel said.

Reacting to the remarks of the Valsad MP, the Congress MLA said he does not have faith in the BJP government and that the protest against the project will be held as planned.

“The state Cabinet discussed the issue today (Wednesday) and the government said that the project has been discontinued. I don’t have faith in the BJP government. We will go ahead with our protest on August 14 at Dharampur town,” Anant Patel said.

“Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel should come out and give us a clarification on the issue. Otherwise, we will go ahead with our protest,” the Vansda MLA added.