SP leader asks Raj govt to expedite river interlinking scheme

Rajasthan state SP chief Pandit Ramkishan has asked the state government to accelerate its scheme to interlink rivers in order to address severe water crisis in Bharatpur.

While welcoming the BJP-led state government's plan to interlink rivers to dissolve water crisis, he said the work should be started without any further delay.

The former MP is leading a peaceful agitation for the last ten years to demand water for the city of Bharatpur.

"It was never imagined that Bharatpur, which used to be flooded once, would ever face water crisis, but such a crisis looms large over the region now. In 1989-90, the then government had made a plan to provide water from Chambal but it did not materialise," he said.

Ramkishan said he had again, in 2007, requested the then BJP government led by Vasundhara Raje to work upon the project, but no progress was made, and later a decision by the Supreme court put the scheme to an end.

"The present government has taken up the project to interlink rivers which is welcoming but the work should start so that the eastern region could get benefit," he said.

The senior SP leader added progress happens when a public representative wins election on the "agenda of development instead of caste equation."

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)