6 states sign agreement for Kishau Multipurpose Project

• Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana signed the Kishau Multipurpose Project agreement on September 15. 

Highlights of the project:

• With regard to the Kishau Multipurpose Project, an agreement was reached on May 12, 1994 that separate agreements would be entered into for each storage project coming up in the Yamuna basin. 

• Subsequently, after the disputes concerning the Lakhwar and Renukaji dam projects were resolved in 2019, work on Kishau moved forward. 

• Formal agreement on the 422-MW project was reached on June 16, 2026. 

• The Ministry of Jal Shakti took the matter forward and after securing the consent of all the states, while considering the technical and economic aspects and safeguarding the interests of all the states, brought the matter to a resolution.

• The government of India has declared the Kishau Multipurpose Project a national project.  

• The Union government will bear approximately 90 per cent of its financial burden, while the remaining 10 per cent will be borne by the participating states in accordance with the 1994 agreement. 

• A 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam will be constructed on the Tons River, which flows along the border of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, with a water storage capacity of 1,562 million cubic metres. 

• It will irrigate 97,000 hectares of land and generate 1,476 million units of clean hydropower. 

• Delhi will receive around 110 million cubic metres (MCM) of water from the project, boosting supply in the city and improving environmental flow in the Yamuna.

• Water available during the monsoon can be stored and released in a regulated manner as required. This will help ensure better water availability for the states in the Upper Yamuna Basin.

• Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, and Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini signed the agreement in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Patil in New Delhi.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)