Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the Rs 49,000 crore Ken-Betwa river-linking project in Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Modi was scheduled to arrive at Khajuraho Airport by 12:30 p.m., from where he would travel to Chhatarpur to lay the foundation stone for the project.

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The event coincides with the 100th birth centenary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who envisioned the national river-linking initiative in 2002.

The project, the country’s first river-linking initiative under the national river interlinking policy, aims to address drought and migration issues in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

The project is expected to benefit more than 8.11 lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh and 59,000 hectares in Uttar Pradesh, impact around seven lakh farmers, and stabilise existing irrigation facilities.

It also aims to provide drinking water to 44 lakh people in Madhya Pradesh and 21 lakh in Uttar Pradesh, generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar energy, and restore 42 Chandela-era heritage ponds to enhance groundwater.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav after reviewing arrangements for the event, said, “Hearty welcome, salutations and greetings to the honourable Prime Minister Modi, who is arriving on the sacred land of Khajuraho for the bhoomipujan of the Ken-Betwa project. Bundelkhand will create new dimensions of development, prosperity and progress.”

CM Yadav said Ken-Betwa is the largest irrigation project in the country, adopting an underground pressurised pipe irrigation system.

The project involves constructing a 77-metre-high Daudhan Dam on the Ken River within the Panna Tiger Reserve, transferring surplus water to the Betwa River via a 221-km canal. It is expected to improve forest ecosystems and mitigate floods in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district.

The Daudhan reservoir will provide drinking water to wild animals in the Panna Tiger Reserve throughout the year, improve the forest ecosystem and bring relief to UP’s Banda district from the flood menace.

“Prime Minister Modi has taken the initiative to realise former PM Vajpayee’s dream for the river linking campaign,” CMYadav added.