Four rivers to be interlinked

The government on Thursday announced a Rs 5,166 crore proposal to link Cauvery, Vaigai, Gundar and Manimuthar rivers in central and southern parts of Tamil Nadu. The government's resolve to interlink state rivers was earlier announced in the governor's address to the assembly in June. Interlinking of rivers will provide multiple benefits like improved irrigation, flood control and scope for inland waterways for transport of passengers and cargo.
The river linking works would be taken up in two phases (see gfx).The government has allocated Rs 60 crore in the budget for taking up preliminary works.
As part of the overall water management initiative, the state is already implementing a World Bank funded dam rehabilitation and improvement project. The central government has given an in-principle approval for Rs 745 crore to repair 104 dams under this scheme over the next six years.
With a view to securing Tamil Nadu's rightful share of Cauvery water, the government has demanded immediate notification of the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
For agriculture, the state government announced a slew of measures. Against last year's agricultural production of 85.35 lakh metric tonnes of food grain, the state has set a target of 115 lakh metric tonnes for the current financial year.