A MoU was signed between the Government of Himachal Pradesh and Government of Haryana for construction of Adi Badri Dam on 77 acres in Himachal Pradesh near Adi Badri area of Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana at Panchkula today in the presence of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar for rejuvenation of Saraswati River with an estimated cost of Rs. 215.35 crore. Chief Secretaries of both the States signed the MoU on behalf of both the States. While addressing this historic event, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that with the signing of this MoU, the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be fulfilled who has shown his commitment to revive the Saraswati River while addressing the people on 3rd April 2014 at Kurukshetra. Jai Ram Thakur said that the project would also be of immense useful for Himachal Pradesh as 3.92 hectare metre water per annum would be earmarked for Himachal Pradesh for drinking water requirement and 57.96 hectare metre for irrigation water demand of the project affected habitations. He said that the Dam would not only be used primarily for revival of Saraswati River, but also help in water conservation in the region. He said that entire funding of the Project would be arranged by the Haryana Government. He said that both the Governments would be free to prepare the Tourism Projects as well as any other infrastructure facilities which may be required for welfare and development of local people from their own resources, without compromising primary objectives of the project.
Chief Minister said that only 21 families of the State would be displaced and they would be properly rehabilitated and the cost of rehabilitation package for oustees and environmental protection package in accordance with prevalent policies of Himachal Pradesh as well as any other prevalent laws or any other unforeseen cost/ expenditure in this regard related to Adi Badri Dam in future would be borne by the Government of Haryana and no liability on this account would be passed on to Himachal Pradesh. Jai Ram Thakur said that on completion of this Project, River Saraswati would again come alive. He said that out of the total proposed area, 31.16 hectare land falls in Himachal which include 0.67 hectare private land and 30.49 hectare forest land. He said that the Dam would get 224 hectare metre water from Somb River of Himachal Pradesh that falls in Yamuna near Adi Badri in Yamunanagar district. He said that that HPPCL would be executing agency for construction of Adi Badri Dam and its related infrastructure.Chief Minister Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar said that Saraswati River alongwith Ganga and Yamuna were most holy rivers of the country. He said that with the construction of this Dam Saraswati River would flow throughout the year with 20 cusecs water all the time. He said that the course of Ghaggar River is said to be the course of Saraswati River. He said that this Project would go a long way in promotion of tourism activities in the area with the joint efforts of Governments of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
He said that with the completion of this project not only vistas for tourism would be opened, but it would also recharge ground water. Manohar Lal Khattar said that Adi Badri Dam Construction Monitoring Committee has been constituted for planning, supervising and monitoring of Adi Badri Dam works which comprise of Additional Chief Secretary Irrigation Haryana, Secretary Jal Shakti Vibhag Himachal Pradesh, Engineer-in-Chiefs and other representative of both States.Education, Language and Culture Minister Haryana Kanwar Pal Gujjar welcomed the Chief Ministers on the occasion. Additional Chief Secretary IPH Haryana Anurag Rastogi welcomed the Chief Ministers of both the States and other dignitaries present on the occasion. Superintending Engineer IPH Haryana Arvind Kaushik made a detailed presentation regarding salient features of the proposed Adi Badri Project. Speaker Haryana Vidhan Sabha Gyan Chand Gupta, Member of Parliament Ambala Rattan Lal Katariya, Chief Secretary Himachal Pradesh Ram Subhag Singh, Chief Secretary Haryana Sanjiv Kaushal, Chairman Central Water Commission R.K. Sinha, Special Secretary Jal Shakti Himachal Pradesh Dr. Ashwani Kumar Sharma and other senior officers of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana were present on the occasion.