Wednesday, 05 April 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
On the second day of his visit to the national capital, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday. In the meeting the CM emphasised on the importance of the Song dam drinking water project and sought central assistance for the ambitious project. In the meeting the CM requested that the union government should finance the Rs 1,174 crore project under its special assistance plan of the capital expenditure. He said that once completed the project would solve the drinking water problems in Dehradun.
The CM informed the finance minister that the drinking water supplies in Dehradun city and nearby suburban areas is being done chiefly by the tube wells due to which the ground water table is falling and in future the ground water would not be able to sustain the needs of the city. The Song dam project is designed to meet this challenge. The project is proposed on Song River which is the tributary of River Ganga with a budget of Rs 2,021 crore.
Dhami said that the project would provide 150 MLD of drinking water to a population of 10 lakh. This gravity water would end the dependency on the underground water for fulfilling the drinking water requirement of Dehradun city. It would result in an increase in the ground water table and release of greenhouse gases. The project also entails creation of a lake which would help in promoting tourism and employment generation. Apart from protecting the environment, the Song Dam project would help in flood control. It would provide security to a population of 15,000 residing in ten villages which are affected every year by the floods. The CM told the union minister the State government has taken the necessary clearances and forest land transfer State -1 permission for the project. The Uttarakhand government would bear the cost of rehabilitation of the affected families which is about Rs 247 crore.
