The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, which manages the 19th-century saint’s samadhi at Shirdi in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, will provide Rs 500 crore to build a canal network for a dam. The Nilwande Dam is located on Pravara River and is expected to benefit 182 villages in Sangamner, Akole, Rahata, Rahuri and Kopargao tehsils in Ahmednagar district and Sinnar in Nashik, news agency PTI reported.
A senior official of the Trust said a Memorandum of Understanding had been signed with the state government’s Godavari-Marathwada Irrigation Development Corporation in this regard. “The trust will give Rs 500 crore for the project but will not charge interest on it,” he told PTI, though he refused to divulge details of tenure of repayment etc. The official said the amount it had allocated for the Nilwande Dam was ‘huge’ and a ‘rare thing’.
A state Water Resources department official said the Nilwande Dam had begun storing water but the right and left bank canals needed to be built for it to be used for irrigation and drinking water purposes.
The Nilwande Dam, this June, received Rs 2,232 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sanjivani Yojana.
Nilwande Dam refers to two associated gravity dams built using roller-compacted concrete, the first use in India and are situated in Ghatghar village in Ahmednagar district. The upper Nilwande dam is 15 m (49 ft) tall and on the Pravara River, a tributary of Godavari river. The lower Nilwande dam is 86 m (282 ft) tall and on the Shahi Nalla River directly to the south-west of the upper reservoir in a steep valley and the hydel power station is located between both the upper and lower reservoirs.
The Shirdi-based temple trust had earlier provided Rs 50 crore to the Maharashtra Airport Development Company for the construction of the Rs 350-crore airport there. The airport, located at Kakadi village, is now operational.
Shirdi, a small rural town in the Rahata taluka of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust is the authorised body to control and manage the day-to-day activities at the Shri Saibaba Samadhi Temple. The temple is a major place of attraction for devotees and tourists from India and abroad.