Ken­-Betwa interlinking Project

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The governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh signed a memorandum of agreement with the Union Jal Shakti Ministry to implement the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project.

Ken Betwa Link Project

• The Ken-Betwa Link Project is the first project under the National Perspective Plan (NPP) for the interlinking of rivers.
• The project involves the transfer of surplus water from the Ken river in Panna district in Madhya Pradesh to the Betwa river in Uttar Pradesh.
  • Both these rivers are tributaries of river Yamuna.
• This will be done through the construction of the Dhaudan Dam and a 221 km-long canal.

• The project needs approval on the share of Centre and State in funding, forming a new organisation the Ken Betwa Link Project Authority to execute the project and obtaining a stage 2 forest clearance for constructing the Daudhan dam.
• The project is expected to be ready in 8 years.

Factors favoring interlinking of rivers

• The most part of the country is monsoon dependent and the quantum of rain varies widely across different regions. Therefore, interlinking will help in balancing the uneven water availability.
• India needs to enhance the food production for his food security needs so to meet this requirement, the country needs to expand its irrigation potential. 
• This interlinking of river projects can help India in increasing the connectivity by creating more inland waterways, therefore, cater the logistic deficiency.
• The interlinking of river projects will increase India’s utilizable surface water by 25%.

Significance of the Project

• It will provide a drinking water supply to 41 lakh people in Madhya Pradesh and 21 lakh in Uttar Pradesh.
• There is a hydropower component to this project as well which will generate just over 100 MW of electricity.
• The project will be of immense benefit to the water-starved region of Bundelkhand.
  • Bundelkhand region will get water for irrigation as well as power.
• It will pave the way for more interlinking of river projects to ensure that scarcity of water does not become an inhibitor to development in the country.

Issues

• Submergence: The project will partly submerge the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and affect the habitat of vultures and jackals.
  • After years of protests, however, it was finally cleared by the apex wildlife-regulator, the National Board for Wildlife, in 2016.
• Disagreement between the states: The two states couldn’t agree on how water would be shared, particularly in the non-monsoonal months.
  • The cordial conditions may not last forever and disputes might arise in future when there are governments of different parties in Lucknow and Bhopal.
• Damage to ecology: National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) – have raised serious concerns about the potential damage the project will do to the area’s ecology.
• High Costly: There is a huge cost attached to project implementation and maintenance.
  • According to the Comprehensive Detailed Project Report, the cost of the Ken-Betwa Link Project is estimated at Rs 35,111.24 crore at 2017-18 prices.

Way Forward

• The necessity and feasibility of river-interlinking should be seen on a case to case basis, with adequate emphasis on easing out federal issues.
• Introduce public-private partnerships in the water sector and revise water tariffs to recover at least operation and maintenance costs.
• A participatory approach to encourage behavioural changes and community engagement in groundwater management.

Source :TH