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⇨ The Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) aims to harvest surplus water available during the rainy season in rivers in southern Rajasthan, such as the Chambal and its tributaries Kunnu, Parvati, and Kalisindh, and use it in the water-scarce south-eastern districts.
⇨ According to the state Water Resources Department, Rajasthan’s geographical area of 342.52 lakh hectares equals 10.4 percent of the entire country but holds only 1.16 percent of India’s surface water and 1.72 percent of groundwater.
⇨ The project was approved by the Central Water Commission in 2017.
⇨ The Jal Shakti Ministry of the central government sent a notice to the Rajasthan government in July 2022, saying that projects under the ERCP must be put on hold till the “inter-state issues are resolved and the project is accorded approval by the advisory committee".
⇨ About Chambal River :-
⇨ It is one of the pollution-free rivers of India, which originates at the Singar Chouri peak in the Vindhya mountains.
⇨ It flows from the Vindhya mountains to Madhya Pradesh in the North direction and then follows a north-easterly direction through Rajasthan. Finally, It enters Uttar Pradesh before joining the Yamuna River.
⇨ The eastern part along the Chambal River is covered by the Hadoti plateau up to the southeast of the Mewar Plains.
⇨ The tributaries of the Chambal include Shipra, Choti Kalisindh, Sivanna, Retam, Ansar, Kalisindh, Banas, Parbati, Seep, Kuwari, Kuno, Alnia, Mej, Chakan, Parwati, Chamla, Gambhir, Lakhunder, Khan, Bangeri, Kedel, and Teelar.
⇨ The Chambal River is used for hydropower generation at Gandhi Sagar dam, Rana Pratap Sagar dam, and Jawahar Sagar Dam, and for annual irrigation purposes the right main canal and the left main canal of the Kota Barrage.
⇨ National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a tri-state ( Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh) protected area, along with Chambal River.
