Mumbai, Aug 7 (IANS): A Maharashtra cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday approved the ambitious Rs 87,342 crore Wainganga-Nalganga interlinking river project, which aims to enrich agriculture in these areas by creating large-scale irrigation facilities in districts hit by farmer suicides.

The project will irrigate an area of 3.75 lakh hectares and will especially benefit the drought affected areas like Marathwada. About 11.33 lakh people will be benefited.

The project will bring water from the Wainganga from the Godavari sub-basin to the Wainganga reservoir in Buldhana district. For this, 426.52 km of connecting canals will be constructed. The link canal will comprise an open canal, pipeline and tunnels in its route up to the Nalgonda reservoir.

The water will be used for irrigation and drinking and industrial purposes in 15 tehsils from Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Akola and Buldhana districts from the Vidarbha region. A large quantity of water from Gosikhurd, which is currently going waste, will be utilised for linking the reservoirs.

According to the Chief Minister’s Office, 31 storage ponds will be constructed so that water can be used during the Rabi season. A detailed project report was submitted in 2018 through the National Water Development Agency. The Central Water Commission has also approved this project which has been included in the Integrated State Water Plan which was discussed recently at the meeting of the State Water Council. The government proposes to develop solar power generation projects through the canal.