Ranchi: The Centre has ruled out a special financial package for Jharkhand’s long-pending Subarnarekha Multipurpose Project (SMPP), even as work estimated at Rs 3,717.38 crore remains to be completed.Responding to a question from Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahato in Lok Sabha, minister of state for Jal Shakti, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, said no proposal for such a package was under consideration by the Union govt.The Centre also rejected the contention that inadequate funding was the main reason for the delay. It attributed the slow progress largely to bottlenecks in land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement activities, which are the state govt’s responsibility.SMPP was among the 99 priority irrigation projects included under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY-AIBP) in 2016-17.According to the ministry, the revised approved cost of the project’s AIBP works is Rs 9,579.58 crore at the 2017 price level. Of this, Rs 5,862.20 crore has been spent, leaving works worth Rs 3,717.38 crore pending.The project is eligible for central assistance of Rs 1,373.70 crore under PMKSY-AIBP. So far, the Centre has released Rs 756.73 crore, while Rs 616.97 crore remains to be provided. The pending central assistance amounts to around 16.6% of the cost of the unfinished works.The response is significant for the Kolhan region, where completion of the project is expected to expand irrigation coverage and benefit lakhs of farmers. However, with no special package planned, the state will have to arrange most of the resources required to finish the remaining work.The Centre reiterated that water is a state subject and that state govts are primarily responsible for planning, financing and executing water resource projects. The Union govt’s role is limited to providing technical support and partial financial assistance under its schemes.
