The Centre has shown its preparedness to get the ball roling on two key river linking projects which will bring water to Mumbai and parts of northMaharashtra but the two beneficiary states must arrive at a consensus.
Two river linking projects between Maharashtra andGujaratare among these five. The Damanganga-Pinjal project and the Par-Tapi-Narmada project have been on the drawing board for a while, but have seen little progress. The Damanganga project looks to meet Mumbai citys drinking water needs till 2060 and the Par-Tapi-Narmada project has potential for north Maharashtra.
The Damanganga-Pinjal project looks to harness water that runs off Maharashtra into the Arabian Sea, and divert the same to Mumbai city for drinking purposes. All this water is from Maharashtra. Gujarat has no role, yet the draft agreement says water from here will be given to Gujarat, said Jadhav.
The Par-Tapi-Narmada project entirely benefits Gujarat, and Maharashtra has demanded compensation of 15 TMC (thousand meter cube) run-off water from Maharashtra into theTapibasin in Dhule.