India has plenty of rivers in Ganga-Brahmaputra region and Deccan plateau region. Since, the new government was voted to power in May, 2014, the project of interlinking rivers of India has been on agenda. It has been looks as to mitigate floods, droughts and reduce the regional imbalance of availability of water.
History or Background:
British Era-
- The interlinking of rivers is not a new project for India continent. It had been considered by Arthur Cotton, the Madras presidency engineer, to promote interlinking of rivers in peninsular India in 19th century of British era. It was looked to mitigate droughts region of south-eastern India and hasten the imports and exports of goods.
Post Independence-
- In 1972, The Union Minister of Water Resources- Dr. K.L.Rao proposed 'National Water Grid' the idea of linking Ganga-Kaveri river comprised a long 2640 km to divert surplus water to drought affected areas.
- The next proposal which attracted much attention was 'Garland Canal' in 1977. It proposed the construction of two canals- (a) Himalayan Canal of 4200 km along the foot of the Himalayas from Ravi in the West to the Brahmaputra in the east; (b) A Garland Canal of 9300 km extending across the central and southern parts of India. But, this project was estimated to be 70 million crores rupees at 2002 price level.
- In 1980, India’s Ministry of Water Resources came out with a report entitled "National Perspectives for Water Resources Development". This report split the water development project in two parts – (a) the Himalayan; (b) Peninsular components. Congress Party came to power and it abandoned the plan.
- In 1982, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) was set up carry out per-feasibility studies, which formed the basis of an interlinking plan.
Turning Point-
This project got a great emphasis by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in October, 2002 after the speech of former and late President A.P.J Abdul Kalam in which he stressed the need of finding solution of flood and drought proned areas in India.
In 2012, Supreme Court also refused interfere in Implementation of Interlinking of rivers in India against the PIL filed in 2002. The Apex Court also directed Union of India and Ministry of Water Resources to constitute "a Special Committee for Interlinking of Rivers" with objective to implement the project with consideration of its needs and affect on the environment.
The Aspects of River Linking Project:
The river linking project by NWDA have many socio-economic aspects:
Ease shortage of water supply in water deficit western and southern part of India.
Mitigate floods in eastern part of India
Reduce the impact of Drought in India during low monsoon.
Improve Irrigation system of India and consequently, improve the food grain production (important for Food Security)
Hasten the Inland Waterways for import and export of goods as this transportation costs lower than other means of transport.
NWDA has identified 14 links under Himalayan and 16 links under Peninsular in India. It has proposed 3,000 storage structures, a canal network of 15,000 km and can generate 34 GW of hydroelectricity, irrigate 87 million acres of land and transfer 174 trillion litres of water a year.
Hindrance in the Inter-linking of Rivers:
- This is a contentious project with many socio-economic, political and environmental zigzags. Some of these are as follows:
Environmentalists around the world have expressed the concern over adverse impacts on the environment and ecological system of Hydrosphere.
Geologists have also expressed their concern over this project as it could affect the geography of India and hydro-logical cycle.
States-Center and State-State political tug-of-war can also affect this project. The water surplus states can create hindrance on diverting or linking to other States.
According to WWF, it will displace 5.5 million people if the NWDA project of linking 30 rivers is implemented.
This project will cost 5.6 lakh crore rupees which a huge amount for India.
Conclusion:
- It is a paramount importance of equitable distribution of water supply throughout the country. But, the concerns of Ecologists, Environmentalists and Geologists experts can not be sidelined. The successful implementation of this project can provide Water Security in India and also a benefit of Transport infrastructure of India, as well as to broadening income sources in rural areas through fish farming.
There must be proper consideration of concerns by the experts and balance the implementation of this project with the nature. The successful projects like Indra canal in Rajasthan, Narmada and Sabarmati link project, and lately Godavari-Krishna linking.
History or Background:
British Era-
- The interlinking of rivers is not a new project for India continent. It had been considered by Arthur Cotton, the Madras presidency engineer, to promote interlinking of rivers in peninsular India in 19th century of British era. It was looked to mitigate droughts region of south-eastern India and hasten the imports and exports of goods.
Post Independence-
- In 1972, The Union Minister of Water Resources- Dr. K.L.Rao proposed 'National Water Grid' the idea of linking Ganga-Kaveri river comprised a long 2640 km to divert surplus water to drought affected areas.
- The next proposal which attracted much attention was 'Garland Canal' in 1977. It proposed the construction of two canals- (a) Himalayan Canal of 4200 km along the foot of the Himalayas from Ravi in the West to the Brahmaputra in the east; (b) A Garland Canal of 9300 km extending across the central and southern parts of India. But, this project was estimated to be 70 million crores rupees at 2002 price level.
- In 1980, India’s Ministry of Water Resources came out with a report entitled "National Perspectives for Water Resources Development". This report split the water development project in two parts – (a) the Himalayan; (b) Peninsular components. Congress Party came to power and it abandoned the plan.
- In 1982, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) was set up carry out per-feasibility studies, which formed the basis of an interlinking plan.
Turning Point-
This project got a great emphasis by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in October, 2002 after the speech of former and late President A.P.J Abdul Kalam in which he stressed the need of finding solution of flood and drought proned areas in India.
In 2012, Supreme Court also refused interfere in Implementation of Interlinking of rivers in India against the PIL filed in 2002. The Apex Court also directed Union of India and Ministry of Water Resources to constitute "a Special Committee for Interlinking of Rivers" with objective to implement the project with consideration of its needs and affect on the environment.
The Aspects of River Linking Project:
The river linking project by NWDA have many socio-economic aspects:
Ease shortage of water supply in water deficit western and southern part of India.
Mitigate floods in eastern part of India
Reduce the impact of Drought in India during low monsoon.
Improve Irrigation system of India and consequently, improve the food grain production (important for Food Security)
Hasten the Inland Waterways for import and export of goods as this transportation costs lower than other means of transport.
NWDA has identified 14 links under Himalayan and 16 links under Peninsular in India. It has proposed 3,000 storage structures, a canal network of 15,000 km and can generate 34 GW of hydroelectricity, irrigate 87 million acres of land and transfer 174 trillion litres of water a year.
Hindrance in the Inter-linking of Rivers:
- This is a contentious project with many socio-economic, political and environmental zigzags. Some of these are as follows:
Environmentalists around the world have expressed the concern over adverse impacts on the environment and ecological system of Hydrosphere.
Geologists have also expressed their concern over this project as it could affect the geography of India and hydro-logical cycle.
States-Center and State-State political tug-of-war can also affect this project. The water surplus states can create hindrance on diverting or linking to other States.
According to WWF, it will displace 5.5 million people if the NWDA project of linking 30 rivers is implemented.
This project will cost 5.6 lakh crore rupees which a huge amount for India.
Conclusion:
- It is a paramount importance of equitable distribution of water supply throughout the country. But, the concerns of Ecologists, Environmentalists and Geologists experts can not be sidelined. The successful implementation of this project can provide Water Security in India and also a benefit of Transport infrastructure of India, as well as to broadening income sources in rural areas through fish farming.
There must be proper consideration of concerns by the experts and balance the implementation of this project with the nature. The successful projects like Indra canal in Rajasthan, Narmada and Sabarmati link project, and lately Godavari-Krishna linking.
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