Linking of 30 rivers put on fast track to tackle water woes

NEW DELHI: The government has fast-tracked the interlinking of 30 rivers as a deepening water crisis threatens to worsen the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of people across the country.

A senior official said the water resources and river development ministry, led by minister Nitin Gadkari, has lined up Rs 45,000-crore worth of development projects to interlink four rivers in the first phase of this initiative.

The development work will cover two phases of Ken-Betwa, Damanganga-Pinjal and Par-Tapi-Narmada projects, the official said, adding that clearance has already been received for linking Ken-Betwa and work on it will commence soon. The Ken-Betwa project envisages fulfilling the water needs of the Bundelkhand region, which straddles both Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) had identified 30 links (16 in the peninsular areas and 14 rivers in the Himalayan regions) for preparation of feasibility reports.


These aim to ease the water crisis in western and southern India while mitigating the impact of recurrent floods in eastern India. The projects will transfer 174 billion cubic metres of water through about 14900-km network of canals.

“The pre-feasibility reports of all 30 links have been prepared and circulated to the state governments concerned. The feasibility reports of 14 links under peninsular component and feasibility reports of nine links under Himalayan component have been completed,” another official said.

The deadline for completion of all these projects is yet to be decided.

On Wednesday, Gadkari, while addressing a conference on ‘Water for Sustainable Development-2018-2028' in Tajikistan, said the Indian government is committed to implement the inter-basin transfer of water project. He said other than these interlinking projects, the government will spend about Rs 30,000 crore on water conservation across the country in around 100,000 villages.

“The Indian government plans to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030,” Gadkari said.