By IANS,
Agra : The Uttar Pradesh government has approved a Rs.12 billion Gangajal pipeline project for Agra, Mathura and Vrindavan, providing some hope of relief for the parched areas.
The project envisages the laying of a 130 km pipeline from Palra headworks in Bulandshahr’s Upper Ganga canal to the Sikandra Water Works in Agra, via Mathura and Vrindavan. A new bridge on river Yamuna is being constructed near Runukta to enable the pipeline cross over to Mathura district.
The project, which was cleared by the government Saturday, will take at least five years to complete. The Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has agreed to fund the project.
Agra and neighbouring districts have been battling water shortage for the past several decades. At one point it was decided to bring water from the Chambal river, but later the project was found unviable.