Will the Jamrani Dam project change the fortunes of four districts of Uttarakhand and UP?

After a long wait of 49 years, the Jamrani Dam project will now come to fruition. Afcons Infrastructure Limited will construct the Jamrani Dam Project at a cost of Rs 2021.99 crore. The construction of the dam will start after the monsoon season. The Jamrani Dam Project will meet the drinking water needs of millions of people of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. At the same time, large areas of agriculture will also be irrigated. The government will also get revenue from power generation to fish farming and water sports. The Irrigation Department has completed the paperwork to bring the water of Jamrani Dam to Bareilly and Rampur districts of UP. Just waiting for the work to be done on the ground.

The Jamrani Dam Project will widen and renovate the canals to meet the irrigation and drinking water needs of Uttarakhand and UP. Rs 400 crore will be spent in building the canals. The construction of the dam will benefit 13 tehsils of four districts of UP and Uttarakhand. Irrigation supply will be possible for Baheri and Mirganj of Bareilly district of UP, Bilaspur, Milak, Rampur and Swar tehsils of Rampur district. Bareilly and Rampur districts will get 61 million cubic meters of water. This will irrigate 1,15,582 hectares of land of 684 villages of UP and 60,869 landholders will be benefited. In Uttarakhand, water will reach Haldwani, Lalkuan and Nainital of Nainital district, Bajpur, Gadarpur, Kichha and Sitarganj of Udham Singh Nagar district. Both the districts will get 38.6 million cubic meters of water. 34,720 hectares of land of 368 villages of both the districts will be irrigated and 8320 landholders will be benefited.

Gaulawar feeder will be widened

Water for Rampur and Bareilly of UP will go through Gaulawar feeder. For this, widening work of 16 km long Gaulawar feeder will be done from Kathgodam to Century Paper Mill (Lalkuan). More than 100 crores are estimated to be spent on this work. It is proposed to increase the capacity of Gaulawar feeder by 1.5 times. Currently, the capacity of Gaulawar feeder is 15 cumec, which will be increased to 24 cumec.

Water will reach Bareilly from Paha feeder

Water is to be supplied from Paha feeder to meet the irrigation and drinking water needs of Bareilly district of UP. For this, an eight and a half kilometer long canal will be reconstructed from Century Paper Mill to Nagla. Its capacity will be increased by 1.5 times. Water will be drained from Nagla to Bareilly district via Kichha Barrage.

Thousands of farmers of UP and Uttarakhand will be affected

History of Jamrani Dam Project

• 1975 – Administrative approval received from Planning Commission for DPR of dam
• 1981 – Construction of Gaula Barrage, 40.5 km canal construction, 244 km canal improvement
• 1989 – Phase two approval of Jamrani Dam from Technical Advisory Committee of Central Water Commission
• 2018 – Forest Clearance Stage One, Inter-State MoU between Uttarakhand and UP
• 2019 – Phase two approval from Technical Advisory Committee of Central Water Commission, Environmental Clearance, Approval from National Mission for Clean Ganga
• 2022 – Modi government launches PM Krishi Sinchai Yojana 2023 – Forest Stage Two clearance in January, PIB approval in March, on October 25, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the inclusion of Jamrani Yojana under PMKSYAIBP.

2024 – Dhami government released Rs 710 crore for dam related works, issued a tender of Rs 2024 crore for the construction of the dam, Afcons Infrastructure got the contract to build the dam, Webcos Company was entrusted with the task of preparing a town plan at the rehabilitation site, after Section 19 was approved by the Secretary Revenue, the way for rehabilitation and compensation distribution was opened.