Song Dam drinking water project in Dehradun gets approval
The Union Environment, Forest & Climate Change Ministry has given approval to the construction of the Rs 1100-crore Song Dam drinking water project in Dehradun in Uttarakhand.
The water supply scheme will provide 24-hour drinking water to Dehradun city and will help revive the local Rispana River. Touted as one of the most important projects of the Uttarakhand government, the dam, originally built on the Song River, is about 148 meters high and aims to generate power up to 6 megawatts.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said on Twitter, “I am very happy to announce that the Song Dam Drinking Water Project has been approved by the Forest Advisory Committee under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Government of India. The Central Water Commission (CWC) has already approved the design of the Song Dam drinking water project that costs around Rs 1100 crore”.
Meanwhile, the Centre has given approval for taking up the 66 megawatt Dhaulasidh hydro-electric project in Hamirpur district in neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh.
The Rs 687-crore investment proposal has been approved by the Centre including budgetary support of Rs 21.6 crore from the Government for enabling infrastructure.
According to Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL Ltd) Chairman-cum Managing Director Nand Lal Sharma, the project was initially envisaged in October 2008, when initially a MoU was signed between SJVN and Government of Himachal Pradesh for development of the project SVP.
