Rajkot:Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been invited to inaugurate the first link of Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation(SAUNI) project on 30th August.

He said Modi had launched SAUNI project in 2012 when he was Chief Minister and performed ground breaking for this proejct which is worth Rs 12,000 crore and aims to fill 115 dams of Saurashtra region through Narmada water.

Rupani said thousands of cusecs of Narmada water go to sea every year and thus wasted. Through SAUNI project it will be diverted to 115 dams of Saurashtra region.

The link Narnedra Modi is going to dedicate on 30th August connects 10 dams including Aaji, Machhu and Und. The location on which 30th August programme is going to take place is in Jamnagar district, but it is on the corner of Rajkot and Morbi district. Rupani said this will be a day when golden sun will rise for Saurashtra. This is the dream project of Narendrabhai.

Rupani said when all 115 dams will be linked to Narmada, farmers will be able to cultivate three crops during year. He said works in direction to link all 115 dams of Saurashtra region are going on speedily. SAUNI will benefit lakhs of hectares of land in Saurashtra region, he added.

Official note of Gujarat government states: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch linking 10 reservoirs, including three behind three major dams of Aji-2, Und and Machchu-2, in the drought-prone Saurashtra region, with surplus waters from the Narmada on August 30, 2016. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said this is part of Rs.12,000-crore ‘Sauni’ project to fill us a total of 115 dams in the region, which in turn will be used for drinking water in 5,000 villages and irrigating several lakh hectares of land in Jamnagar, Rajkot, Morbi and adjoining districts. The project was launched by Mr. Modi when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat with a view to find a permanent solution to water scarcity in the region, creating a water revolution of sorts.

DeshGujarat