Govt will move NITI Aayog seeking alternative source of funding for Siang river flood protection projects- CM
Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday assured the Assembly that he will move the NITI Aayog seeking alternative source of funding to take up Siang river flood protection and those projects.
Itanagar
Against the backdrop of reported obstacles by China on external funding from global bodies for infrastructure projects including flood protection works in the frontier state, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday assured the Assembly that he will move the NITI Aayog seeking alternative source of funding to take up those projects.
With China blocking the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funding for infrastructure projects in different areas of the state bordering neighbouring country, Khandu said, “Whenever I got the opportunity, I took up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NITI Aayog and I will once again approach the Aayog seeking alternative funding.”
The CM said this while intervening into a supplementary query asked by senior Congress lawmaker Ninong Ering to WRD Minister Mama Natung during Question Hour on the steps taken by the state government to solve the issue of frequent flood problem caused by the Siang river.
While informing that the State Water Resources Department has implemented a flood protection work amounting to Rs 7.49 crore during 1999-2000 on Siang river, Natung said a proposal costing Rs 60.67 crore was again mooted under Integrated Flood and River Ban Erosion Management Project to be funded by ADB during 2010. But the project did not materialize due to intervention from neighbouring country (China).
It may be mentioned here that the CM during the 5th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog last month highlighted the need to devise a mechanism to make good the lack of externally aided projects in the state through an appropriate alternate window of funding through NITI Aayog.
Responding to a supplementary question of Ering, the WRD Minister informed the House that no initiative was taken by the then UPA government despite Rs 65 crore was earmarked for protection of Siang basin. He, however, said that recently, the present NDA government sanctioned Rs 35 crore under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, adding that 25 out of 109 schemes proposals sent to the Centre have been sanctioned for left bank of Siang river and the work is going to start soon.
To another question, the Minister told that the state government has no information on whether the river Brahmaputra (known as Siang) in Arunachal Pradesh was being diverted by China towards their Xinjiang Province by constructing a 1,000 km tunnel.
