National River Interlinking Project

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Context:

The Centre has set in motion the process of creating the National Interlinking of Rivers Authority (NIRA), an independent autonomous body for planning, investigation, financing and the implementation of the river interlinking projects in the country. NIRA, to be headed by a Government of India Secretary-rank officer, will replace the existing National Water Development Agency (NWDA) and will function as an umbrella body for all river linking projects

ABOUT NATIONAL RIVER INTERLINKING PROJECT

• National river linking project aims transfer of water to deficit water basins from water surplus basins by interbasin transfer projects
• The deficit basins are where there are conditions of drought or scarcity of water. The surplus basins aware after the needs of population there is the availability of extra water
• Supreme Court directed the central government to start working on interlinking of major rivers in 2002
• A task force was created and your 2016 was set as a deadline to complete the project for linking 37 rivers
• The national river interlinking project consists of 30 links for connecting 37 rivers through a network of about 3000 storage dams that would lead to the formation of a South Asian water grid
• The project would be under the control of the national water development agency under the ministry of jal Shakti
• There are two components of the project

Himalayan rivers- 

• Under the Himalayan rivers component 14 river links have been identified which includes connecting Ganga and Brahmaputra to Mahanadi basin connecting eastern tributaries of Ganga with Sabarmati and Chambal river systems
• It envisages construction of storage reservoir on Ganga & Brahmaputra rivers and also their tributaries in India and Nepal
• This would help in controlling floods, water availability for irrigation and hydel power generation
• The rivers in the West will receive water from surplus floors of Kosi, Gandak and Ghagra through the linkage
• To provide water to drought-prone areas of Haryana Rajasthan and Gujarat a link between Ganga and Yamuna has also been proposed

Peninsular rivers

• It contains the proposal of 16 links to connect the rivers of Southern India there are four subcomponents-

• Mahanadi and Godavari basins to Krishna Kaveri and vaigai river systems
• Interlinking West flowing rivers that are south of Tapi to North of Mumbai
• Interlinking some west-flowing rivers with east-flowing
• Other linkages like Ken Betwa link, Parvati Kali Sindh rivers to Chambal

BENEFITS

• The solution to droughts and floods- with an effective rainfall period of about 28 days India has a large scale hydrological imbalance. There are regions that receive heavy rainfall which causes floods and at the same time there are places where there are issues of water scarcity and droughts
• Navigation channels- the project will enhance inland navigation. India is still much dependent on road transport for the transfer of goods to the water channels which is cost-effective and at the same time beneficial for the environment. It will also help in reducing the pressure on railways and roads
• Better irrigation facilities-There is a potential for irrigation of about 35 million hectares of land in the western Peninsula due to the interlinking of rivers. Around 50% of the agricultural land is rainfed the dependence on rainfall make the farmers extremely vulnerable and at the same time also hampers the food security of the country. Adequate irrigation facilities would help in increasing crop output and also make agricultural income  more remunerative
• Power generation- the projects have the potential to generate around 34 GW of total power. Since India is majorly dependent on coal-based thermal power plants the enhancement of hydel energy can prove to be an effective step for energy security as well as in achieving various climate goals of the country
• Clean drinking water- about 90 billion cubic metres of clean drinking water supply can be provided with the implementation of the project. It will help to resolve the issue of water scarcity even in the various metropolitan cities of India
• Environmental benefits-The addition of surplus water to the deficit areas would be equivalent to giving new life to the dried up forests and land in the area

CHALLENGES

• Ecological challenges-It would lead to large scale submergence of land because of the construction of dams. Acquiring large areas of land would be required for implementation but there are various issues involved in acquiring land
• Damage to biodiversity-The the area under the project may fall within the protected areas like Ken Betwa link project about two-third of the land falls within Panna tiger reserve. In such cases, it is very difficult to get the environmental clearances as well as it poses the threat to the  flora and fauna of the region
• Rehabilitation of people-Due to submergence and acquiring of land there would be a large-scale displacement of people. It would also result in loss of livelihood opportunities. Adequate compensation and rehabilitation especially for the poor and tribals is also a major challenge in the implementation of the project
• Impact on other countries-Water flow in neighbouring countries like Bhutan Nepal and Bangladesh would also be affected that is why Bangladesh is in opposition to transferring of water from the Brahmaputra to the Ganga
• Water state subject-Water is a state subject under schedule VII of the Indian constitution, so the success of the project depends upon the interstate cooperation
• Funding -The estimated cost of the project is about rupees 5.6 lakh crores making it a highly capital intensive venture. Also report on climate change has predicted the melting of about one third of Hindu Kush glaciers by 2100, if this becomes true when investing a huge amount of money in interlinking of the projects can result in  huge losses since Himalayan rivers then would not have any surplus water to transfer
• Canal irrigation-The proposal of the method of canal irrigation to transmit water from one place to another can also lead to various problems because the maintenance of canals is also a challenge since it involves prevention of sedimentation,  clearance due  to water logging etc

WAY FORWARD

Water Conservation- there is a need to focus on better water conservation techniques- sharing of local practices among state watershed management plans etc so that not even a drop of water is wasted

Best practice- a country like Israel despite being  water-scarce country has achieved water security and has one of the best irrigation systems because of the efficient use of technology and well-developed infrastructure

The Indian Express Link:

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/centre-river-linking-india-nira-nwda-gajendra-shekhawat-7622936/

Question: Interlinking of rivers may address the issue of paucity of water but poses a serious threat to the indigenous ecological diversity of the said rivers. Comment.