Haryana approves signing of MoU for Kishau and Renuka dam

Haryana Polity and Governance

Published on: 09-Dec-18
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The Haryana government has given its go-ahead for the construction of Kishau and Renuka dam on Tons and Giri river, tributaries of the Yamuna.

Facts :

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal has approved signing of agreement for Kishau and Renuka dam which would add new storage capacities of 1.04 Million Acre Feet (MAF) and 0.404 MAF water on two tributaries of river Yamuna, that is river Tons and Giri respectively.
With the construction of this project, Haryana would get 177 cusecs water, which constitutes about 47 per cent of the total storage capacity.
In addition, these two dams would generate 660 MW and 40 MW power respectively.
The signing of agreement would reduce the pressure on Haryana for supplying extra raw water to Delhi.
Earlier, Haryana Government had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Lakhwar project in the Upper Yamuna Basin on August 28, 2018.
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi are the six Upper Yamuna Basin states.
Upper Yamuna refers to the stretch of the Yamuna from its origin to the Okhla Barrage in Delhi.
Kishau project is located on river Tons, which is a tributary of river Yamuna, in districts of Dehradun (Uttrakhand) and Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh). The storage capacity of the dam would be 1.04 MAF and it would produce 660 MW of power. About 2950 hectares land of Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh would be submerged.
A joint venture of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) and Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) would be the executing agency.
The water would be shared by the shareholder states in proportion to their shares as per MoU of May 12, 1994 whereas, power would be shared by Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by six states in the year 1994, Haryana’s share in the Kishau Dam is 709 cusecs water out of the live storage capacity of 1,324 million cubic metre (MCM).
Renuka Project is located on river Giri, a tributary of river Yamuna in district Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh. This dam would have a storage capacity of 0.404 MAF and generation capacity of 40 MW. A total of 1216 hectares land of Himachal Pradesh would be submerged. The HPPCL would be the executing agency for the project.
Delhi also has been staking its claim on waters to be released from Renuka Dam. Initially, it was proposed to allocate entire releases from Renuka Dam to Delhi for meeting its drinking water needs. But after objection by Haryana, it is now proposed that only the additional water available due to construction of Renuka Storage would be made available on priority to meet the drinking water needs of Delhi as worked out by Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB).
Thereby, the waters that would have flown down the river Giri without there being any storage, would continue to be distributed like before and only the additional waters that become available due to the construction of storage would be made available to Delhi. Delhi would have priority but not the entire additional water.
Total cost of the three projects would be Rs 9588.60 crore of which 90 per cent would be borne by Government of India as these have been declared projects of national importance.
Haryana Government will pay Rs 458.52 crore as its portion of the remaining 10 per cent cost to be borne by the states.