Khajuraho:�Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday laid the foundation stone of the Ken-Betwa River Link Project at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh. On this occasion, he also inaugurated the Omkareshwar Floating Solar Project in Khandwa district of the state virtually.
Union Water Resources Minister C.R. Patil and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav handed over two `kalash' (urns) containing waters from Betwa and Ken rivers, respectively, to Modi, who poured them over a model of the project to launch the ambitious program.
Nearly 44 lakh people in ten districts of Madhya Pradesh and 21 lakh in Uttar Pradesh will get drinking water under the project, which is estimated to cost Rs 44,605 crore.
Nearly 7.18 lakh agricultural families in 2,000 villages will benefit from the project, which will also generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar energy, officials said.
Modi also released a commemorative stamp and a coin in the memory of former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his birth centenary on this occasion.
The Vajpayee government had proposed river linking as a solution for irrigation needs as well as for dealing with floods.
PM Modi also performed `bhumi pujan' or ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of 1,153 Atal Gram Sewa Sadans costing Rs 437 crore at the Khajuraho program.
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