Bhopal, Feb 17 (IANS): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said on Monday that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's dream of river interlinking project has given new hope for the development of the state.

The Chief Minister made this statement while unveiling a statue of the former Prime Minister Vajpayee in Morena.

He said that former PM Vajpayee devoted his entire life to the service of the country.

State BJP President V.D. Sharma and Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar, who belongs to Morena, were also present on this occasion.

Addressing a gathering on this occasion, Chief Minister Yadav said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made former PM Vajpayee's dream a reality with the first-ever river interlinking project started recently.

The Chief Minister was referring to the Ken-Betwa rivers inter-linking project, for which PM Modi performed 'bhoomi-pujan' during his visit to Chhatarpur on the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of former PM Vajpayee on December 25.

The Ken-Betwa inter-linking project will resolve the drought-hit Bundelkhand region, affecting more than six million people in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Besides this, overall a million hectares of farmland covering 2,000 villages will benefit from the project.

Highlighting the benefits of the river inter-linking project, Chief Minister Yadav said that Madhya Pradesh has entered into a new era of development with the river inter-linking project initiated by Vajpayee's government being implemented on the ground.

"River inter-linking project will open new doors of prosperity in Bundelkhand region with river inter-linking project," the Chief Minister said.

Madhya Pradesh has also started preparations to resolve the dispute with other neighbouring states over the exchange of river water and to re-start pending projects.

Recently, Chief Minister Yadav had spoken to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis over the Tapti Basin Mega Recharge Project.