Interlinking of Rivers

The Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) (erstwhile Ministry of Irrigation) had formulated a National Perspective Plan (NPP) for Water Resources Development as early as 1980 envisaging inter-basin transfer of water from surplus basins to deficit basins/areas which comprises  two components, namely, Himalayan Rivers Development Component and Peninsular Rivers Development Component. The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) was set up under the Ministry of Irrigation in 1982 for carrying out various technical studies to establish the feasibility of the proposals of NPP and to give concrete shape to it. NWDA has already identified 14 links under Himalayan Component and 16 links under Peninsular Rivers Component.  Out of these, Feasibility Reports of 14 links under Peninsular Component and 2 links under Himalayan Component (Indian portion) has been prepared. The  present status of links identified for preparation of Feasibility Reports is given below:-

Peninsular  Rivers Development Component

1.         Mahanadi (Manibhadra) - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link    - FR completed

2.         Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link *       -FR completed     (Taken         by  the  state as per   their own proposal)

3.         Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna ( Pulichintala)link                 - FR completed

4.         Godavari (Inchampalli ) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link         - FR completed

5.         Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link                - FR completed

6.         Krishna (Srisailam) - Pennar  link                                                            - FR completed

7.         Krishna (Almatti) - Pennar link                                                      - FR completed

8.         Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link                     - FR completed

9.         Cauvery (Kattalai) – Vaigai – Gundar link                                   - FR completed

10.       Parbati – Kalisindh – Chambal link*                                            - FR completed

11.       Damanganga – Pinjal  link*                                               - FR com­pleted & DPR started

12.       Par – Tapi – Narmada link*                                             - FR completed & DPR started

13.       Ken – Betwa link*                                                                                     - DPR (Phase-I) Completed                                                                                                            

14.       Pamba – Achankovil – Vaippar link                                             - FR completed.

15.       Netravati - Hemavati Link                                                               - PFR completed

16.       Bedti - Varda link                                                                             - FR work taken up

Himalayan  Rivers Development Component

1.        Kosi-Mechi link                                                                    - Entirely lies in Nepal

2.        Kosi-Ghaghra link                                                               - S&I works taken up

3.        Gandak-Ganga link                                                             - S&I works completed

4.        Ghaghra-Yamuna link                                                        - FR completed (for

                                                                                                              Indian portion)

5.        Sarda-Yamuna link                                                             - FR completed (for

                                                                                                              Indian portion)

6.        Yamuna-Rajasthan link                                                     - S&I works completed

7.        Rajasthan-Sabarmati link                                                   - S&I works completed

8.        Chunar(at Ganga)-Sone Barrage link                             - S&I works completed

 9.        Sone Dam - Southern Tributaries of Ganga link                       - S&I works taken up

10.      Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga (M-S-T-G) link                 - S&I works taken up

11.      Jogighopa(at Brahmaputra)-Tista-Ganga at Farakka

         (Alternate to M-S-T-G) link                                                    - S&I works taken up

12.            Ganga (Farakka)-Sunderbans link                                   - S&I works completed

13.            Ganga-Damodar-Subernarekha link                               - S&I works completed

14.      Subernarekha-Mahanadi link                                           - S&I works completed

   

*    Priority links

PFR- Pre-Feasibility Report; FR- Feasibility Report; DPR- Detailed Project Report

S&I - Survey & Investigation in Indian portion

The Implementation of Inter Linking   of   Rivers   (ILR)  involves various steps such as  preparation  of   FRs   of  links, negotiation and consensus among concerned States, agreement with neighbouring countries if link involve area lying in other countries, preparation of DPRs of the projects and structures identified for the link, clearance from appraisal agencies which include clearance by Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), clearance by Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), techno-economic clearance by Technical Advisory Committee of MoWR, investment clearance by Planning Commission and funding of the project

The  initial cost of the Inter Linking projects as per PFR/FR was 5.60 Lakh crore at 2002 Price Level.

      Costs of individual project have not yet been finalized. The present cost including the cost of land required to be acquired for the project can be estimated only after the completion of DPR of the projects.

   The State Government of Bihar  has submitted six Intra state link proposals

1.         Kosi – Mechi [entirely lie in India] 2.         Barh – Nawada   3.  Kohra – Chandravat (now Kohra-Lalbegi)  4.    Burhi Gandak – None – Baya – Ganga  5.         Burhi Gandak – Bagmati [Belwadhar] 6.            Kosi – Ganga

         The PFRs of all six links have been completed and sent to State Government of Bihar. On the request of Bihar Government the preparation of DPR of two links i.e. 1. Kosi – Mechi, 2. Burhi Gandak – None – Baya – Ganga is under preparation.

          As desired by Govt. of Bihar, NWDA has completed the Preliminary Project Report (PPR) of Burhi Gandak-None-Baya –Ganga link and sent the same to Govt. of Bihar and CWC on 31.05.2012.

         Preparation of Preliminary Project Report (PPR) of Kosi – Mechi link is under progress.

         Further 3 additional proposals ,viz. i) Development of Bagmati Irrigation & Drainage Project – Phase-II (Barrage near Kataunjha in Muzaffarpur District) and Adhwara Multipurpose Project with Kosi-Adhwara-Bagmati link, ii) Transfer of Ganga water to South Bihar through Pump Canal Scheme at Buxer & iii) Development of Badua-Chandan Basin, from Bihar have also been received. These are being examined for their suitability for further studies.

         The State Government of  Rajasthan has submitted two Intra state link proposals i.e. 1. Mahi – Luni link 2. Wakal – Sabarmati – Sei – West Banas – Kameri link.

         PFR of Intra-State link of Rajasthan viz. Wakal – Sabarmati – Sei – West Banas – Kameri link have been prepared and sent to Govt. of Rajasthan. The PFR of Mahi-Luni is in progress.        

            The report on interlinking of rivers was submitted by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in April, 2008.  The conclusions/recommendations given by NCAER in its report mention various benefits of Interlinking of river programme such as additional benefits of Irrigation & Power, increase in growth rate of agriculture, growth of direct & indirect employment, improvement in the quality of life of people in rural areas and mitigation of floods & drought. The recommendations also include certain action points like setting up National Commission for Basin Management, improving cost recovery from irrigation projects & formation of Water Users Association. At present, no interlinking project under National Perspective Plan is under implementation.  Therefore, the stage has not come for taking decision on the action points suggested in the report.