Akshay S KrishnaVNIT Nagpur

BRITISH ERA

During the British colonial rule, the 19th century engineer Arthur Cotton proposed the plan to interlink major Indian rivers in order to hasten import and export of goods from its colony in South Asia, as well as to address water shortages and droughts in southeastern India, now Andhra Pradesh and Orissa

POST-INDEPENDENCE

In the 1970s, K.L. Rao, a former irrigation minister and one of the most proposed “National Water Grid”

He suggested that the Brahmaputra and Gangabasins are water surplus areas, and central and south India as water deficit areas

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 – the Himalayan and Peninsular components

In 1982, India financed and set up a committee of nominated experts, through National Water Development Agency (NWDA) to complete detailed studies, surveys and investigations in respect of all aspects of feasibility of inter-linking Peninsular rivers and related water resource management

NWDA has produced many reports over 30 years, from 1982 through 2013

The proposal was modified to intra-basin development as opposed to inter-basin water transfer in 1999, after a new political alliance formed the central government

The Himalayan component envisages construction of storage reservoirs on the main Ganga and Brahmaputra Rivers and their principal tributaries in India and Nepal so as to conserve monsoon flows for irrigation and hydro-power generation, besides flood control.

Links will transfer surplus flows of the Kosi, Gandak and Ghagra to the west.

The Brahmaputra-Ganga Link will augment dry-weather flow of the Ganga

Surplus flows that will become available on account of inter-linking of the Ganga and the Yamuna are proposed to be transferred to the drought prone areas of Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat

With this proposal about 14 Mha-m of additional water would be available from these river systems for irrigating an estimated 22 M-ha in the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin apart from Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat

It would provide 1120 cumec to Calcutta Port and would provide navigation facility across the country.

It will provide flood moderation in the Ganga-Brahmaputra system.

The Himalayan component will benefit not only India but also Nepal and Bangladesh.

Fourteen links are proposed in the Himalayan component.

In view of the ongoing dispute on the sharing of the Ganga water with Bangladesh, little details of this component are available

Due to size, topography and other reasons, construction and environmental problems might be enormous

Since no additional storages are proposed on the Ganga and the Yamuna, their monsoon flows will continue to go to the Bay of Bengal while huge funds are to be spent to transfer water of Kosi, Ghagra, Gandak and Sarda to the West

The Satluj Yamuna link would transfer water from west to east, the proposed Sarda-Yamuna link towards east will flow in the opposite direction

The Narmada canal transfers Narmada waters across Sabarmati towards North-West, the proposed Rajasthan-Sabarmati link will flow in the opposite direction towards South-east.

The main component of Peninsular Rivers Development is the “Southern Water Grid” which is envisaged to link Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Pennar, and Cauvery rivers

The peninsular scheme was envisaged to provide additional irrigation benefits of over 13 million ha

The Peninsular component comprises four parts :

1. Diversion of surplus flows of Mahanadi and Godavari to Krishna, Pennar, Cauvery and Vaigai.

2. Diversion of west-flowing rivers of Kerala and Karnataka to the east.

3. Inter-linking small rivers flowing along the west coast, north of Mumbai and south of Tapi.

4. Inter-linking the southern tributaries of Yamuna.

The peninsular component of ILR has 13 major water storage/diversion structures situated in four basins

Three non-storage structures, viz., Dowlaiswaram barrage, Prakasam barrage, and Grand Anicut and storage node (Narayanpur) cater to only irrigation, while six storage nodes, viz., Inchampalli, Almatti, Nagarjunasagar, Pulichintala, Krishnarajasagar, and Mettur will serve both irrigation and power needs

One storage node, viz., Somasila is operated to meet domestic and irrigation needs and two storage nodes, viz., Polavaram and Srisailam are multi-purpose projects serving domestic, irrigation, and hydropower demands

The interlinking of Mahanadi, Godavari-Krishna-Cauvery rivers will require the construction of a number of large dams and big canals

This system will be one of the largest and ambitious water transfer projects

The system will require huge financial outlays and will have immense influence on economic, social and environmental growth of the region

21st CENTURY

Social activists campaigned that the project may be disastrous in terms of cost, potential environmental and ecological damage, water table and unseen dangers inherent with tinkering with nature.

The central government of India, from 2005 through 2013, instituted a number of committees, rejected a number of reports, and financed a series of feasibility and impact studies, each with changing environmental law and standards

In February 2012, while disposing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) lodged in the year 2002, Supreme Court (SC) refused to give any direction for implementation of Rivers Interlinking Project

SC directed the Ministry of Water Resources to constitute an experts committee to pursue the matter with the governments as no party had pleaded against the implementation of Rivers Interlinking Project

Drought, floods on one hand and shortage of drinking water on the other

Population and food security issues

Connected rivers as navigation channels

To enhance current reserves and to address loss in groundwater level

Potential economic impact as high costs

Ecological and environmental issues

Displacement of people

Poverty and population issues

International issues

Political views of alternating governments

“All 30 interlinking rivers projects can be completed within seven to 10 years, provided states agree”

-Uma Bharti (Water Resources Minister)

“We see a disaster in making and we are amazed that

Uma Bharti should talk of implementing it”

-Manoj Misra( a water activist)

A.K. Singh (2003), Interlinking of Rivers in India: A Preliminary Assessment, New Delhi

http://www.nih.ernet.in/

http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://www.thethirdpole.net/