Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday once again urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the East Rajasthan Canal Project a national venture.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gehlot said the project costing about Rs 37,247 crore will ensure the availability of drinking water in 13 districts of the state while meeting irrigation needs of 2.8 lakh hectares, an official statement said.

He said a detailed report of the project had been sent to the Central Water Commission for necessary approval in November 2017.

Gehlot urged that it be declared a national project at the earliest.

The chief minister said the Centre has given a national status to drinking water and irrigation projects in 16 areas in the past.

But no water project in Rajasthan has received this status, he said.

Due to a serious problem of drinking water in many districts of the state, it is necessary to give this project the status of a national project and ensure its quick implementation, the statement said.

The ERCP project will ensure the availability of adequate water for drinking and irrigation by 2051 to Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Tonk, Jaipur, Dausa, Karauli, Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts.

The project will carry the surplus water of sub-basins of Kunu, Kul, Parvati, Kalisindh and Mej rivers during monsoon to the sub-basins of Banas, Morel, Banganga, Gambhir and Parbati rivers.