The Third Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Ken-Betwa Link Project (SC-KBLP) was held Yesterday at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti. The meeting was attended by representatives of both the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and officials of various Central Ministries and Niti Aayog.
Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR, MoJS in his opening remarks stressed that the Ken-Betwa link project is critical for the water security and socio-economic development of the Bundelkhand region. It is a flagship project of the Centre and State. We have the responsibility of implementing this project in a time-bound manner using state of art technologies and know-how duly taking care of the R&R of project-affected people and conservation of the region, particularly the landscape-dependent species of Panna Tiger Reserve.
- The Third Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Ken-Betwa Link Project (SC-KBLP) was held Yesterday at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti
- The Secretary stressed that the Ken-Betwa link project is critical for the water security and socio-economic development of the Bundelkhand region
- Two wildlife sanctuaries namely Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary and Rani Durgawati Wildlife Sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh and Ranipur Wildlife Sanctuary of U.P. have been approved by the state govt. for bringing them under project Tiger
- It was intimated to the committee that orders for transfer of about 5480 ha non-forest govt. land of Panna and Chhattarpur districts of M.P. has been issued by the state govt. for transfer to PTR for compensatory afforestation
- A proposal for Constituting an R&R Committee to monitor the implementation of the R&R plan in a transparent and time-bound manner was finalized during the meeting
- A Greater Panna Landscape council is also being constituted for the implementation of the Landscape Management Plan (LMP) and Environment Management Plan(EMP) of the project
During the meeting, deliberations were held on various agenda items covering follow-up actions on decisions taken during the 2nd meeting, the work plan for the year 2023-24, engagement of Project Management Consultancy, land acquisition and R&R of affected villages, the establishment of offices of Ken-Betwa Link Project Authority, implementation of integrated landscape management plan prepared by Wildlife Institute of India for Greater Panna, financial powers of KBLPA, reimbursement to state on expenditure made etc.
It was intimated to the committee that orders for transfer of about 5480 ha non-forest govt. land of Panna and Chhattarpur districts of M.P. has been issued by the state govt. for transfer to PTR for compensatory afforestation.
In addition to this, two wildlife sanctuaries namely Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary and Rani Durgawati Wildlife Sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh and Ranipur Wildlife Sanctuary of U.P. have been approved by the state govt. for bringing them under the project Tiger. This is a significant step in increasing the carrying capacity of PTR. A proposal for Constituting an R&R Committee to monitor the implementation of the R&R plan in a transparent and time-bound manner was finalized during the meeting. A Greater Panna Landscape council is also being constituted for the implementation of the Landscape Management Plan (LMP) and Environment Management Plan (EMP) of the project.
Disclaimer: This is an official press release by PIB.
