Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress accusing it of ignoring Dr B R Ambedkar’s contribution to water resources development in the country while laying the foundation stone of the inter-state Ken-Betwa river linking project that would flow excess water from Ken River in Madhya Pradesh into Betwa.
The PM’s comments come at a time when opposition political parties, including the Congress, have accused Union home minister Amit Shah of belittling Ambedkar during a discussion on 75 years of the Indian Constitution in Rajya Sabha. The Congress has been protesting across the country against his comments whereas the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeatedly accused the Congress of ignoring Ambedkar’s contribution in nation building.
“Ambedkar’s vision and farsightedness contributed significantly to the strengthening of the country’s water resources, their management and dam construction. Ambedkar played a crucial role in the development of major river valley projects and formation of the Central Water Commission,” the PM said at a rally after a foundation laying ceremony.
The Central Water Commission is the premier central body that regulates water flow through different states to minimise impact of floods, monitors over 100 dams across India, ensures their safety and recommends to the government construction of new dams and irrigation projects.
“The Congress party never paid heed to the country’s growing need of water conservation, and never recognised Ambedkar’s efforts as a water conservationist,” Modi said, alleging that the Congress ruled the country for a long time, believing that governance was their birth-right. “Where Congress is, governance cannot happen,” he said.
“In the past, Congress governments were experts in making announcements, but people never benefited from them. Congress governments neither had intentions nor the seriousness to implement plans. Today, we are witnessing the benefits of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. Farmers in MP are receiving ₹12,000 through this scheme. In MP, there is the Ladli Behna Yojana, and if we hadn’t opened bank accounts for women, could this scheme have been successful?” Modi asked.
Modi also said that the major challenge for the 21st century was water security and said the countries with adequate water resources with proper management will move forward.
During the function organised on 100th birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee celebrated as Good Governance Day, the PM also inaugurated the Omkareshwar Floating Solar Project in Khandwa district of the MP virtually and laid the foundation stone of the Daudhan Irrigation Project, part of the river-linking project.
Union Water Resources Minister C R Patil and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav handed over two kalash (urns) containing water from Betwa and Ken rivers, respectively, to Modi, who poured it over a model of the project to launch the river linking work.
The PM said that the Congress and governance do not go together and alleged that the past Congress governments delayed projects for 35-40 years after laying their foundation stones.
He highlighted how the Congress government did not work on the Ken-Betwa river project after coming to power in 2004 and delayed it for over a decade.
“When Atal ji’s government came to power, they worked seriously to solve water-related challenges, but after 2004, Congress dismantled those efforts. Today, our government is focusing on river-linking projects,” Modi said.
The Vajpayee government had proposed river linking as a solution for the country’s irrigation needs as well as for dealing with floods.
Nearly 4.4 million people in ten districts of Madhya Pradesh and 2.1 million in Uttar Pradesh in the Bundelkhand region will get drinking water under the project, which is estimated to cost ₹44,605 crore. Over a million hectares of farmland in 2,000 villages will benefit from the project, which will also generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar energy, officials said.
The PM blamed the Congress for farmers in Bundelkhand struggling because of lack of irrigation facilities. “Such a situation arose because Congress never thought about permanent solutions to the water crisis,” he said.
On Vajpayee, the Prime Minister said that his birth anniversary is an inspiring day for all.
“For years, he has taught many activists like me. Atal ji’s contribution to the country’s development will always remain etched in our memories. In Madhya Pradesh, the construction of over 1,100 Atal Gram Seva Sadans is starting today, and the first instalment for this has already been released. These will give a new momentum to rural development,” he said.
Modi performed `bhumi pujan’ or ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of 1,153 Atal Gram Sewa Sadans costing ₹437 crore at the Khajuraho program.
He emphasised that good governance is the hallmark of the BJP government and said the party’s return to power at the Centre for the third time and in MP for several times shows people’s faith in its good governance.
“I confidently say that whenever BJP has had the opportunity to serve the nation, we have broken old records and achieved success in the works of public welfare and development. The success of government schemes is measured by how much they benefit the people; this is the standard of good governance,” he said.
Modi also released a commemorative stamp and a coin in the memory of Vajpayee.
Reacting to the Ken-Betwa foundation laying, Congress leader and former Union environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh said the PM should “talk” and “walk” on the environment as the project poses a serious threat to the Panna tiger reserve, 40% of which would get submerged because of the construction of Daudhan Dam.
“Today the PM is giving one more evidence of the difference between his ‘talk’ and ‘walk’ on environment and forest matters. The Ken-Betwa river linking project for which he is laying the foundation stone today poses a serious threat to the biodiversity-rich Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
He said Panna is the most remarkable success story of revival, thanks to the tiger reintroduction programme launched 15 years ago- India’s first. By early 2009 its tiger population had been completely wiped out. However, presently Panna has around 90-plus tigers, including cubs and sub-adults, and is thriving with sustainable tourism-based livelihoods, Ramesh said.
The project will submerge over 10 per cent of the core area of the tiger reserve, he said.
“Not only prime tiger habitats – but also those of other species like vultures – will be lost. The ecosystem will be bifurcated. More than 23 lakh trees are to be felled. Construction activities will be a severe disturbance,” he added.
