The Rs 919 crore Kanh Diversion Project and other sewerage schemes are underway for purification of Shipra river in Ujjain. The target is to make the river clean before the Mahakumbh of 2028. Under this, efforts are being made to stop contaminated water from drains from reaching Shipra.
The unit of the Water Resources Department, formed to make the Mokshadayini Shipra river clean and uninterrupted, claims that the water of Shipra will be purified before the Mahakumbh ‘Simhastha’ to be held in Ujjain in the year 2028. Contaminated water from drains will completely stop getting into the river.
It has been started with the grounding of the Rs 919 crore Kanh Diversion Close Duct Project. In the next phase, the tender of Sewarkhedi-Silarkhedi Medium Irrigation Project worth Rs 614 crore 53 lakh has also been approved on Thursday.
468 crore project to be completed in 30 months
Gwalior-based firm Karan Development Pvt Ltd will give shape to the project worth Rs 468 crore in the next 30 months. Before this, the government has also started the work of underground sewerage pipeline project 1.0 worth Rs 438 crore for water purification and is soon going to start the work of the second sewerage pipeline project worth Rs 474 crore.
Not only this, to prevent the water of two big drains of the city (Bhairavgarh, Piliyakhal) from directly getting into Shipra, an ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant) of 2.4 MLD in Bhairavgarh and a STP (Sewerage Treatment Plant) of 22 MLD in Piliyakhal were constructed at a cost of Rs 78 crore. ) The process of selection of contractor for installation is also in progress.
Spent more than three and a half thousand crores in a decade
More than three and a half thousand crore rupees have been spent in the last decade on making Shipra clean and uninterrupted. The biggest initiative was taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party government on 25 February 2014 by connecting Narmada to Shipra. At that time, Rs 432 crore was spent on confluence of two rivers. The then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had said that the confluence of Narmada-Shipra will enrich the entire land of Malwa. People will get Narmada water for drinking water as well as for irrigation and industrial needs.
Narmada water is not available to the people of Ujjain
After this, during Mahakumbh Simhastha and till now, Narmada water was released into Shipra whenever needed for drinking water and festival bathing. Till the year 2018, there was facility to release this water only through natural flow, but in the year 2019, by spending another Rs 139 crore, arrangements were made to release Narmada water into Shipra through pipeline. The special thing is that Narmada water is still not available to the people of Ujjain for irrigation and industrial needs.
Diversion project to prevent drain water from getting into Shipra
After this, in the year 2016, Kanh Diversion Project worth Rs 95 crore was launched to prevent the water of Indore’s sewage containing drains from getting into Shipra. However, this plan could not be completely successful. Despite the diversion pipeline, polluted water from Kanh continued to be available in Shipra for twelve months. Then in 2018, the foundation stone of Narmada-Shipra Multipurpose Scheme worth Rs 1856 crore was laid, which has not been completed till now. Whereas it was to be completed in January 2022.
