The special cabinet meeting in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on September 16 discussed diverting 22,900 million cubic feet (TMCF) water from west-flow rivers to Godavari basin at a cost of Rs 14,040 crore, which include proposed construction of 22 dams in this river linking project. The project reports for the same are yet to be finalised, four years after the water diversion was recommended by the state government-appointed committee. In August 2019, the government-appointed committee had recommended diversion of 89.92 TMCF water to Godavari basin from Nar-Par, Damanganga, Vaitarna, and Ulhas river basins. Out of this, 7.4 TMCF water will be diverted through flow diversion schemes and 15.5 TMCF through lift diversion schemes. The scheme is meant to tackle the drought in Marathwada region. As per the cabinet discussion, there are three lift diversion schemes which include Damanganga - Vaitarana - Godavari, Damanganga - Ekdare - Godavari and Par - Godavari. In the first scheme, four dams are proposed which are Nilmati on Wal river, Met on Wagh river, Koshimshet on Pinjal river and Udhale on Gargai river. The project cost is Rs 6,665 crore and a detailed project report from the National Water Development Agency is expected to be completed by September this year. The Damanganga - Ekdare - Godavari scheme cost is expected to be nearly Rs 1,600 crore. Under this, Ekdare dam will be built on Damanganga river. The detailed project report is expected to be submitted by NWDA by September 2023. The Par-Godavari project will have 17 dams at a cost of Rs 3,719 crore whereby nearly 3.42 TMCF water will be diverted to Godavari basin through Manjarpada tunnel. This project is presently being submitted at the zonal level for technical scrutiny to the state level technical advisory committee. “The projects need to get a nod from the state’s technical advisory committee and state Water Resources Regulatory Authority. Following the approval, based on the state’s financial condition, the administrative approval will be extended,” said an official from the irrigation department.
