Rs. 8,992 crore set aside for irrigation and flood management With focus on Ganga rejuvenation and irrigation, allocation of funds for the Water Resources Ministry has gone up from Rs. 2,076 crore in 2013-14 to a whopping Rs. 13,836 crore in budget allocations for 2014-15. The Rs. 8,992 crore set aside for the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit and Flood Management Programme has pushed up the total budget by over 566 per cent. There was no allocation under this head the previous year. Unfolding the government’s plans in the sector, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced an integrated programme for conservation of Ganga named “Namami Gange” (Obeisance to Ganga) with an outlay of Rs. 2,037 crore. He also declared an allocation of Rs. 1,000 crore under the “Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna” to improve access to irrigation by rain-fed farmers. A sum of Rs. 100 crore has been set aside for ghat development and beautification of the river front at Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi in the current financial year since river fronts and ghats are not only places of rich historical heritage but many of these are sacred, he said. To harness the enthusiasm of the NRI community towards the conservation of the Ganga, an ‘NRI Fund for Ganga’ will be set up which will finance special projects, he said. A project on river Ganga called ‘Jal Marg Vikas’ (National Waterways-I) will be developed between Allahabad and Haldia to cover a distance of 1,620 km. This will enable commercial navigation of at least 1,500-tonne vessels. The project will be completed over six years at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,200 crore. Port projects The Minister said 16 new port projects were proposed to be awarded this year with a focus on port connectivity. A sum of Rs. 11,635 crore would be allocated for the development of the Outer Harbour project in Tuticorin for phase 1. SEZs will also be developed at Kandla and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. Inter-linking of rivers The programme for inter-linking of rivers, which was pursued during the previous NDA regime, will be revived. For this, the Minister announced an allocation of Rs. 100 crore for preparation of Detailed Project Reports.