Today at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, the Steering Committee of the Ken-Betwa Link Project (SC-KBLP) conducted its second meeting, which was presided over by the Secretary of the DoWR, RD & GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Members from the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, as well as representatives from the NITI Aayog and different central ministries, attended the conference.
The Ken-Betwa link project, which is crucial for the water security and socioeconomic development of the Bundelkhand region, should be implemented in a time-bound manner using state-of-the-art technologies and know-how while properly taking care of R&R for project affected people and conservation of the region, in particular the landscape-dependent species of the Panna Tiger Reserve. This was stressed by the Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR, MoJS in his opening remarks.
Deliberations were held on a number of agenda items, including the following: actions to be taken in response to decisions made at the first meeting; a work plan for the years 2022–2023; the hiring of a project management consultancy; the establishment of offices for the Ken-Betwa Link Project Authority; the implementation of an integrated landscape management plan for Greater Panna prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India; the authority’s financial resources; and the reimbursement of expenses.
It was also proposed to constitute a Technical Advisory Group for KBLP to review and advise the Authority on various planning and technical matters.
An R&R Committee to monitor the implementation of R&R plan in transparent and time bound manner was proposed to be constituted.
A Greater Panna Landscape council was also proposed to be constituted for implementation of Landscape Management Plan (LMP) and Environment Management Plan (EMP) of the project.