The Indian rivers interlinking project is a proposed large-scale civil engineering project that aims to effectively manage water resources in India by linking rivers using a network of reservoirs and canals to enhance irrigation and groundwater recharge and reduce persistent floods in some parts and water shortages in other parts of the country. India accounts for 18% of global population and about 4% of the world's water resources. One of the solutions to solve the country's water woes is to link its rivers and lakes. The interlinking project has been split into three parts: a northern Himalayan rivers interlink component, a southern peninsular component, and starting in 2005, an intrastate river-linking component. The project is being managed by India's National Water Development Agency, which is part of the Ministry of Jal Shakti. NWDA has studied and prepared reports on 14 interlink projects for the Himalayan component, 16 for the peninsular component, and 37 intrastate river-linking projects. Average rainfall in India is about 4,000 billion cubic metres, but most of the country's rainfall falls over a 4-month period—June through September. Furthermore, rain across the large nation is not uniform, with the east and north getting most rainfall and the west and south getting less. India also sees years of excess monsoons and floods, followed by below-average or late monsoons accompanied by droughts. This geographical and time variance in availability of natural water versus year-round demand for irrigation, drinking, and industrial water creates a demand–supply gap that has been worsening with India's rising population. Proponents of the river interlinking projects claim the answer to India's water problem is to conserve the abundant monsoon water bounty, store it in reservoirs, and deliver this water—using the planned project—to areas and over times when water becomes scarce. Beyond water security, the project is also seen to offer potential benefits to transport infrastructure through navigation and hydro power as well as broadening income sources in rural areas through fish farming. Opponents are concerned about well-known environmental, ecological, and social displacement impacts as well as unknown risks associated with tinkering with nature. Others are concerned that some projects may have international impacts.
History
British colonial era A proposal regarding the interlinking of rivers in India has a long history. During the British colonial rule, for example, the 19th century engineer Arthur Cotton proposed the plan to interlink major Indian rivers in order to hasten import and export of goods from its colony in indian subcontinent, South Asia, as well as to address water shortages and droughts in southeastern India, now Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
Post independence In the 1970s, Dr. K.L. Rao, a dams designer and former irrigation minister proposed "National Water Grid". He was concerned about the severe shortages of water in the South and repetitive flooding in the North every year. He suggested that the Brahmaputra and Ganga basins are water surplus areas, and central and south India as water deficit areas. He proposed that surplus water be diverted to areas of deficit. When Rao made the proposal, several inter-basin transfer projects had already been successfully implemented in India, and Rao suggested that the success be scaled up. In 1980, India's then Ministry of Water Resources came out with a report entitled "National Perspectives for Water Resources Development". This report split the water development project in two parts – the Himalayan and Peninsular components. The Congress Party came to power and it abandoned the plan. In 1982, India financed and set up a committee of nominated experts, through National Water Development Agency (NWDA) to complete detailed studies, surveys and investigations in respect of reservoirs, canals and all aspects of feasibility of interlinking peninsular rivers and related water resource management. NWDA has produced many reports over 30 years, from 1982 through 2013. However, the projects were not pursued. The river inter-linking idea was revived in 1999, after the National Democratic Alliance formed the Government of India, but this time with a major strategic shift. The proposal was modified to intra-basin development as opposed to inter-basin water transfer.
21st century
By 2004, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by the Congress Party was in power, and it resurrected its opposition to the project concept and plans. Social activists campaigned that the project may be disastrous in terms of cost, potential environmental and ecological damage, water table and the dangers inherent with tinkering with nature. The central government of India, from 2005 through 2013, instituted a number of committees, rejected a number of reports, and financed a series of feasibility and impact studies, each with changing environmental law and standards. In February 2012, while disposing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) lodged in the year 2002, the Supreme Court (SC) refused to give any direction for implementation of the Rivers Interlinking Project. SC stated that it involves policy decisions which are part of legislative competence of state and central governments. However, SC directed the Ministry of Water Resources to constitute an experts committee, the 'Special Committee on ILR' (SC ILR), to pursue the matter with the governments as no party had pleaded against the implementation of the Rivers Interlinking Project.
The need
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