- Ken-Betwa link project is critical for the water security and socio-economic development of Bundelkhand region.
- Proposal for Constituting an R&R Committee to monitor the implementation of R&R plan in transparent and time bound manner was finalised during the meeting
WD News: The third meeting of Steering Committee of Ken-Betwa Link Project (SC-KBLP) was held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi under the chairmanship of Shri Pankaj Kumar, Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The meeting was attended by representatives of both the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and officials of various central ministries and Niti Aayog.
Shri Pankaj Kumar, Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR, MoJS stressed in his opening remarks that Ken-Betwa link project is critical for the water security and socio-economic development of Bundelkhand region. It is a flagship project of centre and state. He emphasised that we have the responsibility of implementing this project in a timebound manner using state-of-the-art technologies and know-how while duly taking care of R&R of project affected people and conservation of the region, particularly the landscape dependent species of Panna Tiger Reserve.
During the meeting, deliberations were held on various agenda items covering follow up actions on decisions taken during the 2nd meeting, work plan for year 2023-24, engagement of Project Management Consultancy, land acquisition and R&R of affected villages, establishment of offices of Ken-Betwa Link Project Authority, implementation of integrated landscape management plan prepared by Wildlife Institute of India for Greater Panna, financial powers of KBLPA, reimbursement to state on expenditure made etc.
It was intimated to the committee that orders for transfer about 5480 ha non-forest govt. land of Panna and Chhattarpur district of MP have been issued by state govt. for transfer to PTR for compensatory afforestation.
In addition to this, two wildlife sanctuaries namely Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary and Rani Durgawati Wildlife Sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh and Ranipur Wildlife Sanctuary of UP have been approved by state government for bringing them under the Project Tiger. This is a significant step in increasing the carrying capacity of PTR. Proposal for constituting an R&R committee to monitor the implementation of R&R plan in transparent and timebound manner was finalised during the meeting.
A Greater Panna Landscape council is also being constituted for implementation of Landscape Management Plan (LMP) and Environment Management Plan (EMP) of the project.
Source & image courtesy: PIB
