Mumbai, Jul 28 (IANS): In a serious bid to make the Marathwada region drought-free, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday urged the Center to speed up the Marathwada Water Grid project for river linking in the state.

“Konkan receives large amounts of rainwater. It is necessary to use it judiciously while irrigation also needs to be further increased in the Konkan region. A large quantity of water due to foods in Sangli and Kolhapur and from the Konkan goes to the sea every year in the absence of river linking and irrigation projects,” the Chief Minister said while addressing the NITI Aayog’s Governing Council meeting.

He said that the government is trying to make it available by tapping that water by bringing water into the Godavari basin in the Marathwada region, adding that he sought the Centre’s help to speed up river linking projects in the state.

The Chief Minister said that the state government will implement the RS 14,40 crore project to divert 22.9000 million cubic feet of water from west-flow rivers to the Godavari basin.

He added that in addition, the government will implement a slew of river linking projects such as Damanganga-Pinjal, Konkan to Godavari basin, Konkan to Tapi basin, Wainganga-Nalganga, Tapi Mahakaya recharge schemes.

“Wainganga-Nalganga interlinking project will irrigate 3,71277 hectares of land from Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Akola and Buldhana districts benefitting lakhs of citizens and farmers,” the Chief Minister said.

He also urged the Centre to consider the price policy regarding the procurement of onion for buffer stock under the Onion Price Stabilization Fund Scheme, adding that the guaranteed price of soybeans and cotton should be increased.

“Since the beginning of the season, the farmers had to bear the loss as soybean prices were lower than the guaranteed price. The Centre needs to address this issue to provide relief to the farmers,” he said, adding that the state government has urged the Center to take urgent steps to prevent milk adulteration.

He also sought the Centre’s help to make proper use of the six acres of Mumbai Port Trust land in Mumbai for the development of the Marine Driver-like ‘chowpatty’.

He also demanded that early approval from the union cabinet for the Thane metro project and shift the funnel radar zone for the redevelopment projects in Dahisar and Andheri to give a much-needed relief to lakhs of residents.

This apart, the Chief Minister demanded to speed up the Pune Nashik Semi High-Speed Railway Project and Karad Chiplun Railway Project.