Chambal aqueduct set to facilitate water supply from river link project in Rajasthan

A new 2.3 km long aqueduct has been installed on the Chambal river in Rajasthan to facilitate the supply of drinking and irrigation water to as many as 17 districts from the revised Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal link project. The connectivity project has been integrated with the East Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) and has been included in the national perspective plan by the special committee constituted for river connectivity.

The memorandum of understanding for the implementation of the project was signed between the governments of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on December 17, 2024. Within the scope of the connection project, an arrangement was made to provide water to large and medium-sized irrigation projects and dams in the project area, based on technical and financial feasibility.

Water Resources Minister Suresh Singh Rawat, who inspected the aqueduct construction at Guhata in Bundi district on Monday, February 9, 2026, called it a “milestone in water engineering”. The internal width of the aqueduct, whose work started in May 2025, is 41.25 meters and its height is 7.7 meters.

Mr. Rawat said that the construction work, which was started in the first phase of the connectivity project at a cost of ₹2,230 crore, will be completed by June 2028. He walked about 2 km, examining in detail every point of the aqueduct, which was designed to transport water from the source to the distribution point using gravity.

The aqueduct will connect Pipalda Samel village in Digod tehsil of Kota district at one end and Guhata at the other end. Water from the Navnera dam built on Kalisindh will be lifted into the Mej river and transported to Galwa, Bisalpur and Isarda dams through a feeder from the Mej dam.

The construction of the new aqueduct will also provide an additional route for public transport. Mr. Rawat said the aqueduct will ensure the success of the ambitious project, which has been implemented at a cost of ₹ 90,000 crore and envisages diverting excess water from the Chambal river basin to areas facing water scarcity for the benefit of 3.25 crore population.

The previous Congress government had sought national project status for ERCP, pegging the Centre’s and State’s share in the expenditure at 90:10. The project is expected to solve the problem of water scarcity in the eastern and southeastern parts of the state until at least 2051.