INTER LINKING OF RIVER IN INDIA

Submitted By - Vaishali Parashar Vikram Singh Vivek Kumar (B.Com IV Sem)

1

Topics covered • Introduction • Reasons and motivation of Inter Linking• Benefits of Inter Linking• National river linking project in India• Issues caused by interlinking • Alternatives to interlinking • History of Inter Linking• Conclusion

2

Introduction

• River Linking is a project of linking two or more rivers by creating a network of manually created canals, and providing water to the land areas that does not have river water access and reducing the flow of water to sea using this means.

• It is based on the assumptions that surplus water in some rivers can be diverted to deficit rivers by creating a network of canals to interconnect the rivers. 3

Reasons & Motivation Of

Inter Linking

• Regional Rainfall Variation• Futuristic Demand Of Irrigation• Increasing Population and Food Demand• To Control Floods & Droughts

4

Probable Benefits Of

Inter Linking5

I. Irrigation - By linking of rivers vast amount of land areas which does not have otherwise irrigated and unusable for agriculture become fertile..

II. Flood prevention – By creating network of rivers flood & drought problem can be greatly avoided by channeling excess water to areas that are not experiencing a flood or are dry. This works similar to canal system in Netherlands to channel excess water from sea..

III. Generation of electricity - With new canals built, feasibility of new DAMS to generate hydroelectric power becomes a possibility.

IV. Navigation - Newly created network of canals opens up new routes and ways and routes of water navigation, which is generally more efficient and cheaper compared to road transport..

6

V. Higher GDP Growth - By interlinking rivers, there will be a boost and increased employment in agricultural sector, power, transportation; construction etc. Interlinking can increase the GDP by 5to 6 %.

VI. Business Opportunities – It is expected to generate large-scale business opportunities in manufacture of mechanical equipments, earthmovers, stone crushers, power shovels, other transportation vehicles, etc.

VII.Drinking Water - Majority of our population will get drinking water; Special emphasis is that all the cities connected by Golden quadrilateral project will get drinking water.

VIII.Revenue- The government is expecting revenues from benefits of navigating through waters, increased tourism, joint ventures, private initiatives and cess on waters.

7

National River Linking Project in

India

8

NRLP

The National River Linking Project (NRLP) is designed to ease water shortages in western and southern India while mitigating the impacts of recurrent floods in the eastern parts of the Ganga basin.

The NRLP, if and when implemented, will be one of the biggest inter basin water transfer projects in the world.

9

Present Status Of Interlinking Of Rivers Project -Press Information Bureau release

The Government has said that the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) under the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) has identified 30 inter-state River links (16 under Peninsular Component & 14 under Himalayan Component) for preparation of Feasibility Reports (FRs).

Out of these, FRs of 14 links under Peninsular Component and 2 links (Indian Portion) under Himalayan Component have been completed.

10

Issues caused by

inter linking and

it’s Concerns11

1. Ecological issues – Major concern being the argument that rivers change their course in 70–100 years and once they are linked, future change of course can create huge practical problems for the project.

2. Aqua life – A number of leading environmentalists are of the opinion that the project could be an ecological disaster. There would be a decrease in downstream flows resulting in reduction of fresh water inflows into the seas seriously jeopardizing aquatic life.

3. Deforestation –Creation of canals would need large areas of land resulting large scale deforestation in certain area.

4. Areas getting submerged - Possibility of new dams comes with the threat that habitable or reserved land getting submerged under water.

5. Displacement of people –As large strips of land might have to be converted to canals, a considerable population living in this areas must need to be rehabilitated to new areas.

12

Alternatives to

Indian River Linking

13

• Rainwater harvesting and conservation of water resources

• Recharging ground water reservoir• Community participation

14

HISTORY OF INTERLINKING

• 1972- Ganga cauvery link proposed by Dr. K.L.Rao .

• 1974- “Garland canal” proposal by captain Dastur .

• 1980- Ministry of water resources frames the National Perspective Plan(NPP) .

• 1982- The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) set up to carry out pre – feasibility studies .

• 1999- A National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development plan (NCIWRDP) set up to review NWDA reports .

15

• Aug 15, 2002- President Abdul Kalam mentions the need for river linking in his independence day speech .

• Oct 2002- Supreme court recommends that the government formulate a plan to link the major Indian rivers by

the year 2012.

• Dec 2002- Govt. appointed a task force on interlinking of 37 rivers led by Mr. Suresh Prabhu. The deadline was revised to 2016.

Contd…

16

• Considering the pragmatic view of all the issues raised it can be concluded that implementation of this ambitious scheme is not possible in foreseeable future.

• Hence it can be a better option to concentrate on the local resources and think upon the alternatives available.

CONCLUSION

17

Thank You . . .

18