The project has been posed for funding to ADB by Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), GoI subsequent to which a ADB field Mission team had visited the project area in month of February last year. After the visit ADB Mission team had recognised key areas of the project for review before a final decision is taken on funding of the project.Water is the most precious natural resource on the earth as very survival of the planet is linked to it. Over the period of time, with the ever increasing human population, the water is rapidly becoming a scarce resource. Many parts of the world are already water stressed and India is no exception. As per the National Water Policy, safe water for drinking and sanitation should be considered as pre-emptive needs. The National Water Policy stresses the need for planning of multi-purpose projects with a provision of storage to derive maximum benefits from available topology and water resources.Cost of project will be 2584.1 Crore (@ 2018 price level excluding the cost of drinking water component which is about 355.0 Crore @ 2018 price level.

Jamrani Dam Multipurpose Project is one such project envisaging e the following benefits:-

1. Drinking water	2. Irrigation	3. Power generation
4. Fisheries	5. Flood control	6. Tourism
7. Reduce dependency on ground water	8. Recharge of Ground water

In addition, the project will have associated benefits like increased employment to local population during the construction and in O&M phase. The implementation of project will also result in better road connectivity in the region and thus having spiraling positive effect on other sectors like health and education. Construction of the project will provide impetus to the state infrastructure in the region. This includes the cost of all components of the project like Unit I (Main dam, Power component, utilities & other works) & Unit II (distribution system).

Brief Note of Benefits

1. Irrigation Benefits: The CCA of the Jamrani project is 150027 Ha which is spread in Uttarakhand& Uttar Pradesh states. The land in the command area is calledBhabar&Tarai in Uttarakhand and Gangetic in Uttar Pradesh respectively. The land is highly fertile and productive.
a. Assured irrigation from the project will lead to increase in productivity/ yield of crops.
b. Additional barren/ non-agricultural land will also be brought under irrigation.
c. Assured irrigation will also help in increased production of vegetables like Tomato, capsicum, broccoli, etc., as the current availability of irrigation water is limited.
d. Formost efficient use of stored water, adoption of micro irrigation techniques such as drip and sprinkler is being envisaged which will enable the introduction of high value vegetables like broccoli, tomato in at least 50% of the command area. Cluster for such crops shall be developed and linked with market to ensure fair pricing for farmers.

2. Power/Electricity Benefits Uttrakhand is a power deficit state and to meet its energy demand it is purchasing electricity from other states. This project will generate 63.4 million Units annually, thus reducing the energy import from other states. The UPCL supply power in Rural and Urban areas for domestic and commercial purposes in Uttarakhand. The cost of power in Uttarakhand varies from Rs. 2.50 to 7.50 per unit of electricity.

3. Benefits from Domestic Water Supply : As the population of Haldwani& nearby areas is growing rapidly, the demand of the drinking water is rising day by day. This project shall provide 42.70 million cubic meter quantity of water for drinking purpose annually. It is difficult to put the price of the drinking water in terms of amount as there is no substitute of water.

4. Flood control (Cost saving/ Benefits): Gola River is a perennial river but the most of the flow is in monsoon season. The 24 hr PMP works out to more than 600 mm in the catchment This coupled with the facts that catchment area of the project is small and river is flashy in nature, the flood discharges are quite high resulting in frequent damages to bridges, agricultural fields, culverts, dykes, spurs, embankments etc. Moreover, in the absence of a storage structure of adequate capacity, the precious flood water is wasted as flood discharges.Frequent occurrence of flood in the river necessitates huge expenditure by Uttarakhand Government departments in re-building infrastructure and also controlling flood in the affected areas. There shall be a major reduction in flood damages after construction of the dam.

5. Fisheries Benefits :Jamrani dam reservoir will be spread over an area of 452 Ha where fishes like Mahaseer, Rohu, Catfish and other expensive fish varieties will be cultured in consultation with the Fisheries department. Estimated average sustainable quantity of fishes caught per Ha is of the order 60kg/Ha at an average market rate of Rs. 175.

6. Tourism Benefits: Nainital District is well known for tourism in India and abroad. A number of natural lakes are present here and it is also well known for Corbett National Park. However, In the peak season and even otherwise Nainital city, Bhimtal city, and Corbett National Park etc. areas often get overcrowded. Also, many times there is shortage of parking space, water etc. causing problems to tourists and local residents. The government is also looking for some other options to resolve this issue. Employment through home stays, village tourism, and spiRTIual-medicinal herb tourism is on the rise and the way forward for increasing the tourism in Uttarakhand.

The Jamrani Reservoir which will be 9 km long and be surrounded by villages, parts of which are going to be submerged and made part of the tourism circuit which is proposed to be developed. Tourism circuit will consist of road on the reservoir periphery, a small market for herbal products, complex for handicrafts, processed food and local goods. Also, this road will shorten the distance inNainital District betwwnareas like Khansu,Okhalkanda, Dhanachuli and Paharpanietc. The famous Haidakhan Ashram already attracts a lot of local and international tourists, who will continue to visit this place and tourist footfall is likely to increase further, as the Haidakhan Ashram is proposed to be reconstructed as a part of the project.
Most of the tourists who visit Uttarakhand for shorter periods i.e. 1-3 days do not wish to travel a long distance in the hills as it consumes most of their visit time in journey and they prefer visiting cities located near the plains like Nainital, Bhimtal and Corbett National Park etc. Jamrani being very close to the Kathgodamrail head,is expected to attract additional tourists. Lucrative water sports, underwater sightseeing, boating, water parasailing, fishing spots for tourists, local camping spots, jungle trailing etc. will give impetus to the tourism industry in the region. Around 10 lakh population visits Nainital district every year, out of which about 70% is expected to visit Jamrani Dam’s reservoir area. Home stays, hotels, and resorts shall thus flourish here.

Benefits/ Cost cutting in erection, operation & maintenance of new tube wells :Haldwani City is a major city of the Kumaon region where people from all districts of Kumaon region migrate mainly for education, employment, medical facilities etc. Population has grown substantially in the city and neighboring areas in the last decade. Haldwani city and nearby villages fall in the Bhabhar region of the area. The soil in Bhabhar region is highly porous, thus lots of surface water either seeps down or percolates to different areas in surrounding tarai region.
As the surface water is not so readily available, a number of tubewells have been drilled in this area. Also, dependency on the Groundwater is increasing every year. There is a fall of about 50-60 feet in the last 40 years in this region’s Groundwater.
About 25 or more new tube wells (public and private) are drilled every year for drinking water and irrigation purpose. About Rs.50 lakhs is spent on drilling each tube well as 400 feet is the average depth drilled for tube wells in this region. Cost of drilling tube well is further increasing due to failure of tube wells because of reduction in Groundwater. Once the assured water from Jamrani project is made available , the dependence on ground water is likely to be reduced substantially.

Cost of recharge of ground water :Jamrani Dam has storage capacity of 208 MCM with a live storage of 142.70 MCM. This quantity of water shall be provided over the year for drinking and irrigation purpose. Also, groundwater quantity is reducing every year due to over exploitation and urbanization. This over exploitation has greatly harmed the environment and now the Bhabhar region has come under sub-cRTIical zone or to say, it is perhaps the last phase to recover the present ground water status. There are recent Government orders to not to drill any new tube wells in this region to stop uncontrolled exploitation.
In many places ground water recharge projects have come up, because urbanization has over exploited groundwater and lesser water seepage areas are left. These groundwater recharge projects are not economically efficient but are considered at top prioRTIy for sustainable water usage.
Jamrani dam will help in recharging the groundwater of the project area as about 100MCM shall be stored round the year, even in deficit water years a dead storage of 66 MCM shall remain in the reservoir. Also when sufficient amount of water will be made available to public for domestic and agriculture purposes, the extra water will further contribute to recharge of ground water.

Other Benefits: There are additional indirect benefits from the project which are difficult to be to be quantified:-
1. The tourism circuit proposed to be built shall reduce the distance to Dhanachuli bend, a prominent junction for various hill stations.
2. When tourist cities cluster is developed it will benefit a no. of other destinations around it, as tourist get a multiple place package rather than just mainly visiting Nainital city. Mukteshwar, Patlot ,Paharpani, etc tourist places shall also be benefitted.
3. This Dam will also help in increasing the carrying capacity of Haldwani city as International Stadium in Haldwani, International airport at Pantnagar etc. projects are proposed but deficiency of drinking water hinders these important projects.
4. This Dam will further support the water requirement of SIDCUL Industrial Area, Rudrapur.
5. Out of the muck that is expected to be generated, 70% is proposed to be sold in the tarai region as a filling material.

Annual benefit statement
It is also pertinent to mention that benefits worked out are based on prevailing rates as on today. No increase in value of benefits over the project life, which is certain, has been considered resulting in the understatement of overall benefits over the entire period of the project life.