The dream of inter-linking of rivers of the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was finally realised on Tuesday with senior BJP leader lK Advani inaugurating the ambitious Narmada-Kshipra link project at Ujjaini village of Indore district.

The confluence of Narmada at Kshipra at Ujjaini will open new vistas of agriculture development in Malwa region and would usher farmers of the region into an era of prosperity and would change their fates. While inaugurating the project, Advani said interlinking of Narmada and Kshipra rivers is one of the first experiment realized Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan towards developing Madhya Pradesh. “When I had arrived here 14 months back, there was no trace of water in Kshipra, it appeared that the region may turn into a desert soon. But today I see a complete metamorphosis,” he added.

The Chief Minister has completed this project with complete grit and determination. He said the state government has taken resolve turn Malwa into a green belt through interlinking of fiver rivers in the region and the Narmada-Kshipra link project which has enabled Narmada water reach the origin of Kshipra is a step forward in this direction, he added. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the project will not only unleash greenery in Malwa which threatening to turn into a desert due to fast depleting ground water level but will also provide ample  water to the farmers of the region for irrigation purposes and subsequently change their fate. He said after completion of the first phase, the state government will start work of the second phase of the project by linking other rivers like Kalisindh, Parwati with the Narmada.

He said if the project has seen light of the day, it was due to sheer grit and determination of the state government officials, even as former state chief minister had described the project as impossible. Chief Minister said that the Narmada-Kshipra link project has turned Ujjaini village into a pilgrim centre with   thousands of people from nearby village arriving here.

The inauguration of the project which was supposed to take place at 3 pm got delayed to due to unseasonal rains in the region. The function was attended by galaxy of BJP leaders including leader of Opposition in the lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and state BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar.