The Ken-Betwa river-linking project is a progressive step forward, provided the ecological impact is more than adequately compensated for. Such concerns need to be effectively tackled if the project is to succeed
The concept of linking of rivers in order to balance the water resources from surplus to deficit areas has been in circulation at various times in the last century. During the British era, efforts were made to link the Ganga and the Cauvery rivers in order to distribute waters and facilitate navigation, but the idea remained on paper. In 1982, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) was formed and entrusted with the task of carrying out water balance and feasibility studies of the linking programme of 30 rivers.
The river-linking initiative made much progress during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government when an ambitious plan to connect 14 Himalayan and 16 peninsular rivers was unveiled. The plan envisaged the construction of 30 canals and 3,000 reservoirs to irrigate 87 million hectares of land, and produce 34 gigawatt of hydro-electricity. Following a tripartite memorandum of understanding signed in 2005, among the Union Minister for Water Resources and the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, a detailed project report was prepared on the Ken-Betwa river link project. But the project ran into strong opposition by conservationists and the Ministry of Environment.
The stalled Ken-Betwa river link project has received a much needed boost under the Narendra Modi Government, with the Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti making a strong pitch for completing the river-linking within a decade to tackle drought in the region. The Rs9,393-crore Ken-Betwa project was allocated Rs100 crore in 2014-15 to expedite work. Yet inspite of the push being received, the project made no headway due to the absence of green clearances. But all that is set to change with phase I of the Ken-Betwa river linking project getting the nod of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWl) a few days ago.
The Ken-Betwa linking project is the first of the NDA Government’s ambitious mega river-linking programme and the approval of the NBWl is a crucial step forward. But the flip side of the approval is the irreversible impact on the environment.
The project is expected to have a direct impact on the Panna Tiger Reserve as the Phase I of the project would result in a loss of 10.07 per cent of Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) of the Panna Tiger Reserve due to submergence and an indirect loss of 105.23 sq km of CTH due to fragmentation and loss of connectivity.
In spite of the glaring environmental concerns, the benefits of the project for the entire region are hard to ignore. The inter-linking of the rivers is expected to address the chronic drought in the region and ensure availability of water to dry areas of both Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and provide irrigation to about six lakh hectares of land annually, besides drinking water to 13.42 lakh people in the two states.The project puts the Government in a delicate dilemma, wherein it has to choose between environmental conservation and social welfare.
The Government is going on an overdrive to make up for the ecological loss by integrating the Nauradehi, Rani Durgavati and Ranipur wildlife sanctuaries into the Panna Tiger Reserve, besides rehabilitating the project-affected villagers. Additionally, Chhatarpur and South Panna Division will be notified as a buffer of the protected reserve area. But these measures by themselves may not be sufficient, as more projects of similar nature roll out in the wake of the Ken-Betwa linking project. The other projects in waiting are the Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga, involving Assam, West Bengal and Bihar; the Par Tapi Narmada link, which would transfer water from the water surplus regions of Western Ghats to the water deficit regions of Saurashtra; and the Kutch-Damanganga-Pinjal link, which would provide water for Greater Mumbai.
Since the river-linking projects involve clearing of forest land and endangering animals, besides relocating the local population, the Government must immediately put in place a robust multi-pronged environmentstrategy that is custom made for each of the project region to minimise the ecological impact.The strategy must be designed and implemented by a panel of experts comprising ecologists, hydrologists, representatives from the Water Ministry, and conservationists, to study the holistic impact on wildlife.
River water distribution is an extremely successful method of ensuring balanced distribution of precious water resources, and if executed well, the benefits can be reaped by many generations. Numerous countries across the world have successfully implemented such projects — for instance, Mexico. For its city water supply, it transferred water from the lerma Basin in 1958. The California State Water Project in the US enabled the diversion of four cubic km of water flow from the better watered northern part of the State to the relatively drier southern part. The Ken-Betwa river-linking project is a progressive step forward, provided the ecological impact is more than adequately compensated for.
(The writer is an environmental journalist)