Ministry of Jal Shakti signed an agreement with Uttar Pradesh government for implementation of Ken-Betwa Link Project.
Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP)· It is the first project to be implemented under the National Perspective Plan (NPP) for interlinking of rivers.
· Under this project water will be transferred from Ken river to Betwa river, which are both tributaries of the river Yamuna.
· The project will be carried out in two phases at an estimated cost of Rs 35,111 crore.
· 13 water-stressed districts of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are said to benefit from the project.
· It will irrigate 10.62 lakh hectares, and provide drinking water supply
to about 62 lakh people and also generate 103 MW of hydropower.
· KBLP was declared a National Project in 2008 and is also included in the Prime-Ministers package for development.
· One of the dams to be constructed in the project requires the submergence of an area of Panna tiger reserve. For this, mitigation strategy is being developed by Wildlife Institute of India.
· Clearances for such river linking projects are to be sought from various ministries and committees including Central Water commission, Central Empowered committee, Ministry of Environment and Forest and Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
History of river linking
· In 1895, Periyar project— transfer of water from Periyar river to Vaigai river was commissioned.
· In August 1980 the then Ministry of Irrigation prepared The National Perspective Plan (NPP) for transferring water from water surplus basins to water-deficit basins.
· Under the NPP, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) identified 30 links (16 under Peninsular Component & 14 under Himalayan Component).
· The then Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation had constituted a task force for Interlinking of Rivers in April 2015, chaired by B.N. Navalawala.
(NWDA)
· NWDA was set up in July 1982 by Government of India.
· It is registered as a Society under Societies registration act 1860 under the Ministry of Water Resources.
· The NWDA is fully funded by Government of India.
· Its main function is to study the feasibility of the links under Peninsular Component and Himalayan Component of National Perspective Plan and preparation of DPR of link projects and pre- feasibility/ feasibility reports of intra- basin links
Benefits of interlinking rivers
· Flood Control
· Drought Mitigation
· Availability of water for irrigation
· Food security
· Meeting domestic water needs.
Critical views on interlinking of rivers project
· Inter-Linking of River projects lack hydrological and ecological soundness and seek to commodify India’s water.
· Experts point out that, due to India’s immense dependence on monsoon for water, all the rivers generally overflow during the same time across the sub-continent and a flooded basin would not accept more water from another basin at such a time.
· Building dams will block the sediment supply to the deltas, thereby destroying the fragile ecosystems
