Sardar Sarovar Dam to fulfill PM Modi's vision of doubling farmers' income by 2022: Gadkari

The Minister for Shipping and Water Resources, Nitin Gadkari, on Sunday, said that the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project would fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of doubling the farmers' income by 2022.

"The Prime Minister has decided that we will double the income of farmers by 2022 and this vision will be fulfilled by this project," Nitin Gadkari said, at the inauguration ceremony of the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project.

"The Prime Minister today has fulfilled Vallabhbhai Patel's dream," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who celebrates his 67th birthday today, inaugurated and dedicated to the nation the Sardar Sarovar Dam, in Kevadia, Gujarat, nearly six decades after its foundation stone was laid.

On the dual occasion of the Prime Minister's birthday and the inauguration of the dam project, Gadkari termed the day as "historic".

Under the project, the four crore people of Gujarat will get access to drinking water, and farmers will greatly benefit from the irrigation of almost 22 lakh acres of land, claimed Gadkari.

"For the country's development, the Prime Minister has envisioned that environment and development should go hand in hand. With this view, this project has been completed, but not without the support of the Gujarat Government, the Madhya Pradesh Government, and everyone else," said Gadkari.

An official release says that the increase in the height of the dam will facilitate a usable storage of 4.73 Million Acre Feet (MAF) and will greatly benefit the participating states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Nitin Gadkari has been assigned the responsibility of river connectivity and irrigation by Prime Minister Modi.

"I assure you (Modi) that we will begin work on three out of the 30 of your dream projects of river connectivity in the coming three months," Gadkari said.

Gadkari signed off by congratulating the people of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra, who will benefit from the project.

-ANI