Mumbai: In a major step towards mitigating the water shortage crisis in parched Marathwada region, the state Cabinet on Tuesday gave its approval for the first phase of Rs 4293 crore Marathwada water grid project.
The first phase of the project will be implemented in Aurangabad and Jalna districts.
The state government has decided to create a water grid with an integrated piped network to supply water for drinking, industrial and agricultural purposes in Marathwada.
According to state officials, the request for qualification for these works would be issued on the hybrid annuity model, which involves an investment by private players, who also need to provide funds to the state for the project. The work would include placing pipelines, setting up of water treatment plant and buster pumps at several places.
A special Cabinet meet held at Aurangabad in 2016 discussed creating the Marathwada water grid. In order to check the feasibility of the project, tenders were issued last year. Later, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with Mekorot Development and Enterprises Ltd.
The first and second preliminary compilation reports for Aurangabad and Jalna districts have been submitted which includes placing of 737 kms of pipelines for Aurangabad district and 458.29 kms of pipelines for Jalna.
Major dams in the drought-hit region, including Jayakwadi, Majalgaon, Manjara, Mannar and Sidhdheshwar along with several medium and minor irrigation projects are expected to be interlinked under the water grid project.
