Indian rivers interlinking project | |
---|---|
Type of project | Interbasin transfer |
Country | India |
Status | In study |
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. [1] [2] 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. [3]
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. [4] 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. [4]
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. [5] [6] 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. [6]
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. [5] 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. [2] Others are concerned that some projects may have international impacts. [7]
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. [8]
In the 1970s, Dr. K.L. Rao, a dams designer and former irrigation minister proposed "National Water Grid". [9] 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. [9]
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) [1] 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. [1] 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. [10]
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. [10] [11]
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. [12]
India receives about 4,000 cubic kilometers of rain annually, or about 1 million gallons of fresh water per person every year. [2] However, the precipitation pattern in India varies dramatically across distance and over calendar months. Much of the precipitation in India, about 85%, is received during summer months through monsoons in the Himalayan catchments of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin. [13] The northeastern region of the country receives heavy precipitation, in comparison with the northwestern, western and southern parts. The uncertainty of the start date of the monsoons, sometimes marked by prolonged dry spells and fluctuations in seasonal and annual rainfall is a serious problem for the country. [1] The nation sees cycles of drought years and flood years, with large parts of the west and south experiencing more deficits and large variations, resulting in immense hardship, particularly for the poorest farmers and rural populations. Lack of irrigation water regionally leads to crop failures and farmer suicides. Despite abundant rains during July–September, some regions in other seasons see shortages of drinking water. Some years, the problem temporarily becomes too much rainfall and weeks of havoc from floods. [14] This excess-scarcity, regional disparity and flood-drought cycles have created the need for water resources management. [15] Rivers inter-linking is one proposal to address that need. [1] [2] Due to global warming, fossil fuels use is discouraged and carbon neutral, clean, and renewable energy sources like solar and wind power are encouraged which are intermittent and variable types of electricity generation. Pumped storage hydroelectric power plants are needed to store the surplus electricity generated during daylight time by the solar power plants and supply the required electricity during the night hours. Water security, energy security, and food security can be achieved by interlinking rivers by envisaging multipurpose freshwater coastal reservoirs. [15]
Population increase in India is the other driver of the need for river inter-linking. India's population growth rate has been falling but still continues to increase by about 10 to 15 million people every year. The resulting demand for food must be satisfied with higher yields and better crop security, both of which require adequate irrigation of about 140 million hectares of land. [16] Currently, just a fraction of that land is irrigated, and most irrigation relies on monsoon. River interlinking is claimed to be a possible means of assured and better irrigation for more farmers, and thus better food security for a growing population. [1] In a tropical country like India with high evapotranspiration, food security can be achieved with water security which in turn is achieved with energy security to pump water to uplands from water surplus lower elevation river points up to sea level. [17] [18]
When sufficient salt export is not taking place from a river basin to the sea in an attempt to harness the river water fully, it leads to river basin closure, and the available water in the downstream area of the river basin closer to the sea becomes saline and/ or alkaline water. Land irrigated with saline or alkaline water gradually turns into saline or alkali soils. [19] [20] [21] The water percolation in alkali soils is very poor leading to waterlogging problems. Proliferation of alkali soils would compel the farmers to cultivate rice or grasses only as the soil productivity is poor with other crops and tree plantations. [22] Cotton is the preferred crop in saline soils compared to many other crops. [23] Interlinking water surplus rivers with water deficit rivers is needed for the long-term sustainable productivity of the river basins and for mitigating the anthropogenic influences on the rivers by allowing adequate salt export to the sea in the form of environmental flows.
India needs infrastructure for logistics and the movement of freight. Using connected rivers as navigation is a cleaner, low carbon footprint form of transport infrastructure, particularly for ores and food grains. [1]
India currently stores only 30 days of rainfall, while developed nations strategically store 900 days worth of water demand in arid areas river basins, and reservoirs. India's dam reservoirs store only 200 cubic meters per person. India also relies excessively on groundwater, which accounts for over 50 percent of the irrigated area with 20 million tube wells installed. About 15 percent of India's food is being produced using rapidly depleting groundwater. The end of the era of massive expansion in groundwater use is going to demand greater reliance on surface water supply systems. Proponents of the project suggest India's water situation is already critical, and it needs sustainable development and management of surface water and groundwater usage. [24] Some proponents feel that India is not running out of water but water is running out of India.
The rivers inter-linking feasibility reports completed by 2013, suggest the following investment needs and potential economic impact:
Inter-link project | Length (km) | Estimated Cost in the year 2003 or earlier# | New irrigation capacity added (hectares) | Potential Electricity generation capacity | Drinking & Industrial water added (MCM) | Reference | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Krishna–Pennar Link | 587.2 | ₹6,599.80 crore (US$790 million) | 258,334 | 42.5 MW | 56 | [25] | Under Construction |
Godavari–Krishna Link | 299.3 | ₹26,289 crore (US$3.1 billion) | 287,305 | 70 MW | 237 | [26] | Completed [27] |
Parbati Kalisindh Chambal | 243.7 | ₹6,114.5 crore (US$730 million) | 225,992 | 17 MW | 89 | [28] | |
Nagarjunasagar Somasila Link | 393 | ₹6,320.54 crore (US$760 million) | 168,017 | 90 MW | 124 | [29] | Under Construction |
Ken Betwa Link | 231.5 | ₹1,988.74 crore (US$240 million) | 47,000 | 72 MW | 2,225 | [30] | Under Construction |
Srisailam Pennar Link | 203.6 | ₹1,580 crore (US$190 million) | 187,372 | 17 MW | 49 | [31] | |
Damanganga Pinjal Link | 42.5 | ₹1,278 crore (US$150 million) | - | - | 44 | [32] | |
Kaveri-Vaigai-Gundar Link | 255.6 | ₹2,673 crore (US$320 million) | 337,717 | - | 185 | [33] | Under Construction [34] |
Polavaram-Vijayawada Link | 174 | ₹1,483.91 crore (US$180 million) | 314,718 | 72 MW | 664 | [35] | Under Construction [36] |
Mahanadi Godavari Link | 827.7 | ₹17,540.54 crore (US$2.1 billion) | 363,959 | 70 MW | 802 | [37] | |
Par Tapi Narmada Link | 395 | ₹6,016 crore (US$720 million) | 169,000 | 93 MW | 91 | [38] | |
Pamba Achankovil Vaippar Link | 50.7 | ₹1,397.91 crore (US$170 million) | 91,400 | 500 MW | 150 | [39] |
#The cost conversion in US $ is at latest conversion price on the historical cost estimates in Indian rupees
Some activists and scholars have, between 2002 and 2008, questioned the merits of Indian rivers inter-link projects, and questioned if appropriate study of benefits and risks to environment and ecology has been completed so far. Bandyopadhyay et al. claim there are knowledge gaps between the claimed benefits and potential threats from environment and ecological impact. [2] They also question whether the inter-linking project will deliver the benefits of flood control. Vaidyanathan claimed, in 2003, that there are uncertainty and unknowns about operations, how much water will be shifted and when, whether this may cause water logging, salinity/alkalinity and the resulting desertification in the command areas of these projects. [40] Other scholars have asked whether there are other technologies to address the cycle of droughts and flood havoc's, with less uncertainties about potential environmental and ecological impact. [41] Rivers may change their courses every (approximately) 100 years, so the interlinking may not be useful after 100 years. Interlinking may also lead to deforestation and cause ecological imbalances, widely expected to alter fish communities. [42] [43] [44] A study concluded that the project could reduce rainfall and change rainfall patterns in the region. [45]
Water storage and distributed reservoirs are likely to displace people – a rehabilitation process that has attracted concern of sociologists and political groups. Further, the inter-link would create a path for aquatic ecosystems to be affected by movement of species from one river to another, which in turn may affect the livelihoods of people who rely on specific aquatic species for their income. Lakra et al., in their 2011 study, claim [46] large dams, interbasin transfers and water withdrawal from rivers is likely to have negative as well as positive impacts on freshwater aquatic ecosystem. As regards to the impact on fish and aquatic biodiversity, there could be positive as well as negative impacts.
India has a growing population, and large impoverished rural population that relies on monsoon-irrigated agriculture. Weather uncertainties, and potential climate change induced weather volatilities, raise concerns of social stability and impact of floods and droughts on rural poverty. The population of India is expected to grow further at a decelerating pace and stabilize around 1.5 billion by 2050, or another 300 million people – the size of United States – compared to the 2011 census. This will increase demand for reliable sources of food and improved agriculture yields – both of which, claims India's National Council of Applied Economic Research, [5] require significantly improve irrigation network than the current state. The average rainfall in India is about 4,000 billion cubic meters, of which annual surface water flow in India is estimated at 1,869 billion cubic meters. Of this, for topological and other reasons, only about 690 billion cubic meter of the available surface water can be utilised for irrigation, industrial, drinking and ground water replenishment purposes. In other words, about 1,100 billion cubic meter of water is available, on average, every year for irrigation in India. [5] This amount of water is adequate for irrigating 140 million hectares. As of 2007, about 60% of this potential was realized through irrigation network or natural flow of Indian rivers, lakes and adoption of pumps to pull ground water for irrigation.
80% of the water India receives through its annual rains and surface water flow, happens over a 4-month period – June through September. [5] [6] This spatial and time variance in availability of natural water versus year-round demand for irrigation, drinking and industrial water creates a demand-supply gap, that only worsens with India's rising population. Proponents claim the answers to India's water problem is to conserve the abundant monsoon water bounty, store it in reservoirs, and use this water in areas which have occasional inadequate rainfall, or are known to be drought-prone or in those times of the year when water supplies become scarce. [5] [47]
In a 2007 article [7] the authors claim inter-linking of rivers to initially appear to be a costly proposition in ecological, geological, hydrological and economical terms, but in the long run the net benefits coming from it will far outweigh these costs or losses. However, they suggest that there is a lack of an international legal framework for the projects India is proposing. In at least some inter-link projects, neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh may be affected, and international concerns for the project must be negotiated.
Cost of power generation by solar power projects would be below Rs. 1.0 per Kwh in few years. [48] [49] Availability of cheaper, clean and perennial/renewable power would favour more water lifting/pumping and tunnels in the river link projects rather than purely gravity links to economize on cost, reduce construction time and reduce land submergence by optimum use of existing reservoirs/less storage, etc. Tunnelling technology/methodology has also undergone drastic improvements to make them alternate choice to the gravity open canal links with shortest distance and cost effective manner. [50]
BJP-led NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee had propagated the idea of interlinking of rivers to deal with the problem of drought and different parts of the country at the same time. [11]
The Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said in 2009 that the entire idea of interlinking of rivers was dangerous and that he was opposed to interlinking of rivers as it would have "severe" environmental implications. Jairam Ramesh, a cabinet minister in former UPA government, said the idea of interlinking India's rivers was a "disaster", putting a question mark on the future of the ambitious project. [51]
Karunanidhi, whose DMK has been a key ally of the Congress-led UPA at the centre, wrote that linking rivers at the national level perhaps is the only permanent solution to the water scarcity problem in the country. Karunanidhi said the government should make an assessment of the project's feasibility starting with the south-bound rivers. DMK for 2014 general elections added Nationalisation and inter-linking of rivers to its manifesto. [52]
Kalpasar Project is an irrigation project which envisages storing Narmada River water in an offshore freshwater reservoir located in Gulf of Khambhat sea for further pumping to arid Saurashtra region for irrigation use.
The National perspective plan envisions about 150-million-acre feet (MAF) (185 billion cubic meters) of water storage along with building inter-links. [53] These storages and the interlinks will add nearly 170 million acre feet of water for beneficial uses in India, enabling irrigation over an additional area of 35 million hectares, generation of 40,000 MW capacity hydro power, flood control and other benefits.
The total surface water available to India is nearly 1440-million-acre feet (1776 billion cubic meters) of which only 220-million-acre feet was being used in the year 1979. The rest is neither utilized nor managed, and it causes disastrous floods year after year. Up to 1979, India had built over 600 storage dams with an aggregate capacity of 171 billion cubic meters. These small storages hardly enable a seventh of the water available in the country to be utilized beneficially to its fullest potential. [53] From India-wide perspective, at least 946 billion cubic meters of water flow annually could be utilized in India, power generation capacity added and perennial inland navigation could be provided. Also some benefits of flood control would be achieved. The project claims that the development of the rivers of the sub-continent, each state of India, as well as its international neighbours stand to gain by way of additional irrigation, hydro power generation, navigation and flood control. [53] The project may also contribute to food security to the anticipated population peak of India. [53]
The Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna is a major international drainage basin which carries more than 1,000 million acre feet out of total 1440 million acre feet in India. Water is a scarce commodity and several basins such as Cauvery, Yamuna, Sutlej, Ravi and other smaller inter-State/intra-State rivers are short of water. 99 districts of the country are classified as drought prone, an area of about 40 million hectare is prone to recurring floods. [53] The inter-link project is expected to help reduce the scale of this suffering and associated losses.
The National Perspective Plan comprised, starting 1980s, of two main components:
An intrastate component was added in 2005.
Himalayan Rivers Development envisages construction of storage reservoirs on the main Ganga and the Brahmaputra and their principal tributaries in India and Nepal along with inter-linking canal system to transfer surplus flows of the eastern tributaries of the Ganga to the West apart from linking of the main Brahmaputra with the Ganga. [53] Apart from providing irrigation to an additional area of about 22 million hectares and generating about 30 million kilowatt of hydro-power, it will provide substantial flood control in the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin. The Scheme will benefit not only the States in the Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin, but also Nepal and Bangladesh, assuming river flow management treaties are successfully negotiated. [53]
The Himalayan component would consist of a series of dams built along the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers in India, Nepal and Bhutan for the purposes of storage. Canals would be built to transfer surplus water from the eastern tributaries of the Ganga to the west. This is expected to contribute to flood control measures in the Ganga and Brahmaputra river basins. It could also provide excess water for the Farakka Barrage to flush out the silt at the port of Kolkata.
By 2015, fourteen inter-links under consideration for Himalayan component are as follows, with feasibility study status identified: [54] [55]
This Scheme is divided in four major parts.
This component will irrigate an additional 25 million hectares by surface waters, 10 million hectares by increased use of ground waters and generate hydro power, apart from benefits of improved flood control and regional navigation. [53]
The main part of the project would send water from the eastern part of India to the south and west. [53] The southern development project (Phase I) would consist of four main parts. First, the Mahanadi, Godavari. Krishna and Kaveri rivers would all be inter-linked by canals. Reservoirs and dams would be built along the course of these rivers. These would be used to transfer surplus water from the Mahanadi and Godavari rivers to the south of India. Under Phase II, some rivers that flow west to the north of Mumbai and the south of Tapi would be inter-linked. The water would supply additional drinking water needs of Mumbai and provide irrigation in the coastal areas of Maharashtra. In Phase 3, the Ken and Chambal rivers would be inter-linked to serve regional water needs of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Over Phase 4, a number of west-flowing rivers in the Western Ghats, would be inter-linked for irrigation purposes to east flowing rivers such as Kaveri and Krishna.
The 800-km long Mahanadi-Godavari interlinking project would link River Sankosh originating from Bhutan to the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh through rivers like Teesta-Mahananda-Subarnarekha and Mahanadi. [56]
The inter-links under consideration for Peninsular component are as follows, with respective status of feasibility studies: [57] [58]
India approved and commissioned NWDA in June 2005 to identify and complete feasibility studies of intra-State projects that would inter-link rivers within that state. [60] The Governments of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Kerala, Punjab, Delhi, Sikkim, Haryana, Union Territories of Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar islands, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep responded that they have no intrastate river connecting proposals. Govt. of Puducherry proposed Pennaiyar – Sankarabarani link (even though it is not an intrastate project). The States Government of Bihar proposed 6 inter-linking projects, Maharashtra 20 projects, Gujarat 1 project, Orissa 3 projects, Rajasthan 2 projects, Jharkhand 3 projects and Tamil Nadu proposed 1 inter-linking proposal between rivers inside their respective territories. [60] Since 2005, NWDA completed feasibility studies on the projects, found 1 project infeasible, 20 projects as feasible, 1 project was withdrawn by Government of Maharashtra, and others are still under study. [61]
On 16 September 2015, first linking was completed of rivers Krishna and Godavari. [62] It is still under review. But it isn't considered as a true river interlinking[ by whom? ] as it is just a small lift irrigation with few lines of pipes.[ citation needed ]
NWDA had drafted Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Godavari-Cauvery link project consisting of three links; Godavari (Inchampalli/Janampet) – Krishna (Nagarjunasagar), Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) – Pennar (Somasila), Pennar (Somasila)-Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link projects which was circulated to involved States in March 2019. The concerns of involved states had been attended in September 2020. [63]
S. No. | Name | Rivers | States concerned | Present status | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peninsular Component | |||||
1 | Mahanadi (Manibhadra) -Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link | Mahanadi & Godavari | Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh (AP), Madhya Pradesh (MP), Telangana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh | FR Completed | |
2 | Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Pulichintala) link | Godavari & Krishna | Odisha, Maharashtra, AP, MP, Telangana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh& Maharashtra | FR Completed | |
3 | Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link | Godavari & Krishna | Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka &Chhattisgarh | FR & Draft DPR Completed | |
4 | Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link | Godavari & Krishna | Andhra Pradesh | FR Completed | |
5 | Krishna (Almatti) – Pennar link | Krishna & Pennar | Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka &Telangana | FR Completed | |
6 | Krishna (Srisailam) – Pennar link | Krishna & Pennar | Andhra Pradesh | FR Completed | |
7 | Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link | Krishna & Pennar | Andhra Pradesh | FR & Draft DPR Completed | |
8 | Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link | Pennar & Cauvery | Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Puducherry | FR & Draft DPR Completed | |
9 | Cauvery (Kattalai) - Vaigai -Gundar link Project (as an extension of Godavari-Cauvery Interlinking project) | Cauvery, Vaigai & Gundar | Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Puducherry | DPR Completed. Foundation stone laid and construction started [34] | |
10 | Ken-Betwa link | Ken & Betwa | Uttar Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh | FR & DPR (Ph-I, II & Comprehensive) Completed | |
11 | (i) | Parbati -Kalisindh- Chambal link | Parbati, Kalisindh & Chambal | Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan & Uttar Pradesh (UP requested to be consulted during consensus building) | FR Completed |
(ii) | Parbati-Kuno-Sindh link | Parbati, Kuno and Sindh | MP and Rajasthan | PFR completed [a] | |
12 | Par-Tapi-Narmada link | Par, Tapi & Narmada | Maharashtra & Gujarat | DPR Completed | |
13 | Damanganga - Pinjal link | Damanganga & Pinjal | Maharashtra & Gujarat | DPR Completed | |
14 | Bedti - Varda link | Bedti & Varada | Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka | PFR Completed | |
15 | Netravati – Hemavati link | Netravati & Hemavati | Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Kerala | PFR Completed | |
16 | Pamba - Achankovil - Vaippar link | Pamba, Achankovil & Vaippar | Kerala & Tamil Nadu, | FR Completed | |
Himalayan Component | |||||
1 | Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga (M-S-T-G) link | Manas, Sankosh, Teesta and Ganga | Assam, West Bengal, Bihar & Bhutan | FR completed | |
2 | Kosi-Ghaghra link | Kosi & Ghaghara | Bihar, Uttar Pradesh & Nepal | PFR completed | |
3 | Gandak-Ganga link | Gandak & Ganga | -do- | FR completed (Indian portion) | |
4 | Ghaghra-Yamuna link | Ghaghra & Yamuna | -do- | FR completed (Indian portion) | |
5 | Sarda-Yamuna link | Sarda & Yamuna | Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand & Nepal | FR completed (Indian portion) | |
6 | Yamuna-Rajasthan link | Yamuna & Sukri | Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana & Rajasthan | Draft FR completed | |
7 | Rajasthan-Sabarmati link | Sabarmati | -do- | FR completed | |
8 | Chunar-Sone Barrage link | Ganga & Sone | Bihar & Uttar3 Pradesh | Draft FR completed | |
9 | Sone Dam – Southern Tributaries of Ganga link | Sone & Badua | Bihar & Jharkhand | PFR completed | |
10 | Ganga (Farakka)-Damodar-Subernarekha link | Ganga, Damodar & Subernarekha | West Bengal, Odisha & Jharkhand | Draft FR completed | |
11 | Subernarekha-Mahanadi link | Subernarekha & Mahanadi | West Bengal & Odisha | FR completed | |
12 | Kosi-Mechi link | Kosi & Mechi | Bihar, West Bengal & Nepal | PFR completed | |
13 | Ganga (Farakka)-Sunderbans link | Ganga & Ichhamati | West Bengal | FR completed | |
14 | Jogighopa-Tista-Farakka link (Alternative to M-S-T-G) | Manas, Teesta & Ganga | -do- | Dropped |
The Indian Rivers Inter-link project is similar in scope and technical challenges as other major global river inter-link projects, such as:
Other completed rivers inter-linking projects include the Marne-Rhine Canal in France, [79] [80] the All-American Canal and California State Water Project in the United States, South–North Water Transfer Project in China, etc. [81]
The Godavari is India's second longest river after the Ganga River and drains the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik, Maharashtra. It flows east for 1,465 kilometres (910 mi), draining the states of Maharashtra (48.6%), Telangana (18.8%), Andhra Pradesh (4.5%), Chhattisgarh (10.9%) and Odisha (5.7%). The river ultimately empties into the Bay of Bengal through an extensive network of distributaries. Measuring up to 312,812 km2 (120,777 sq mi), it forms one of the largest river basins in the Indian subcontinent, with only the Ganga and Indus rivers having a larger drainage basin. In terms of length, catchment area and discharge, the Godavari is the largest in peninsular India, and had been dubbed as the Dakshina Ganga.
The Daman Ganga also called the Dawan River is a river in western India. The river's headwaters are on the western slope of the Western Ghats range, and it flows west into the Arabian Sea. The river flows through Maharashtra and Gujarat states, as well as the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. The industrial towns of Vapi, Dadra and Silvassa lie on the north bank of the river, and the town of Daman occupies both banks of the river's mouth.
The Srisailam Dam is constructed across the Krishna River in Nandyal district, Andhra Pradesh and Nagarkurnool district, Telangana near Srisailam temple town and is the 2nd largest capacity working hydroelectric station in India.
India experiences an average precipitation of 1,170 millimetres (46 in) per year, or about 4,000 cubic kilometres (960 cu mi) of rains annually or about 1,720 cubic metres (61,000 cu ft) of fresh water per person every year. India accounts for 18% of the world's population and about 4% of the world's water resources. One of the proposed solutions to solve the country's water woes is the Indian rivers interlinking project. Some 80 percent of its area experiences rains of 750 millimetres (30 in) or more a year. However, this rain is not uniform in time or geography. Most of the rains occur during its monsoon seasons, with the northeast and north receiving far more rain than India's west and south. Other than rains, the melting of snow over the Himalayas after the winter season feeds the northern rivers to varying degrees. The southern rivers, however, experience more flow variability over the year. For the Himalayan basin, this leads to flooding in some months and water scarcity in others. Despite an extensive river system, safe clean drinking water as well as irrigation water supplies for sustainable agriculture are in shortage across India, in part because it has, as yet, harnessed a small fraction of its available and recoverable surface water resource. India harnessed 761 cubic kilometres (183 cu mi) (20 percent) of its water resources in 2010, part of which came from unsustainable use of groundwater. Of the water it withdrew from its rivers and groundwater wells, India dedicated about 688 cubic kilometres (165 cu mi) to irrigation, 56 cubic kilometres (13 cu mi) to municipal and drinking water applications and 17 cubic kilometres (4.1 cu mi) to industry.
The Telugu Ganga project is a joint water supply scheme implemented in India in 1980s by the then Andhra Pradesh chief minister Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao and Tamil Nadu chief minister Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran to provide drinking water to Chennai City in Tamil Nadu. It is also known as the Krishna Water Supply Project, since the source of the water is the Krishna River in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. Water is drawn from the Srisailam reservoir and diverted towards Chennai through a series of interlinked canals, over a distance of about 406 kilometres (252 mi), before it reaches the destination at the Poondi reservoir near Chennai. The main checkpoints en route include the Somasila reservoir in Penna River valley, the Kandaleru reservoir, the 'Zero Point' near Uthukkottai where the water enters Tamil Nadu territory and finally, the Poondi reservoir, also known as Satyamurthy Sagar. From Poondi, water is distributed through a system of link canals to other storage reservoirs located at Red Hills, Sholavaram and Chembarambakkam.
Interbasin transfer or transbasin diversion are terms used to describe man-made conveyance schemes which move water from one river basin where it is available, to another basin where water is less available or could be utilized better for human development. The purpose of such water resource engineering schemes can be to alleviate water shortages in the receiving basin, to generate electricity, or both. Rarely, as in the case of the Glory River which diverted water from the Tigris to Euphrates River in modern Iraq, interbasin transfers have been undertaken for political purposes. While ancient water supply examples exist, the first modern developments were undertaken in the 19th century in Australia, India and the United States, feeding large cities such as Denver and Los Angeles. Since the 20th century many more similar projects have followed in other countries, including Israel and China, and contributions to the Green Revolution in India and hydropower development in Canada.
Jalayagnam or Jala Yagnam,, is a water management program in India. It has been implemented by Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India, Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy as an election promise to the farmers of the state to bring 8.2 million acres under irrigation in five years. Y.S.R has taken required approvals from central government and NGTL. Also other required permissions for all the projects before he died. Like Site clearance, environmental clearance, R & R clearance, wildlife sanctuary clearance, forest clearance and technical advisory committee clearance. By the time he supposed to execute projects on phase manner, Y.S.R died in accident. Subsequently there was other issues like state bifurcation came to high intensity, subsequent Chief Ministers failed to give priority for Jalayagnam.
River linking is a project of linking two or more rivers by creating a network of manually created reservoirs and canals, and providing land areas that otherwise does not have river water access and reducing the flow of water to sea using this means. It is based on the assumptions that surplus water in some rivers can be diverted to deficit rivers by creating a network of canals to interconnect the rivers.
The Polavaram Project is an under construction multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in the Eluru District and East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh. The project has been accorded National project status by the Central Government of India. Its reservoir back water spreads up to the Dummugudem Anicut and approx 115 km on Sabari River side. Thus back water spreads into parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha States. It gives major boost to tourism sector in Godavari Districts as the reservoir covers the famous Papikonda National Park, Polavaram hydro electric project (HEP) and National Waterway 4 are under construction on left side of the river. It is located 40 km to the upstream of Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Rajamahendravaram City and 25 km from Rajahmundry Airport.
The Pranahita Chevella Lift Irrigation Project is a lift irrigation project to harness the water of Pranahita tributary of Godavari River for use in the Telangana state of India. The river water diversion barrage across the Pranahita River is located at Thammidihatti village in Komaram Bheem district of Telangana. This lift canal is an inter river basin transfer link by feeding Godavari River water to Krishna River basin. The chief ministers of Telangana and Maharashtra states reached an agreement in 2016 to limit the full reservoir level (FRL) of the barrage at 148 m msl with 1.85 tmcft storage capacity. In the year 2016, this project is divided into two parts. The scheme with diversion canal from the Thammmidihatti barrage to connect to existing Yellampalli reservoir across the Godavari River is presently called Pranahita barrage lift irrigation project. This scheme is confined to providing irrigation facility to nearly 2,00,000 acres in Adilabad district using 44 tmcft water.
Icchampally Project was a multi-purpose project proposed in 2008, with hydro electricity generation, irrigation, flood control, etc. benefits on the River Godavari in India. This project is proposed as joint project of Telangana, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh states.
Velugodu Reservoir is a balancing reservoir and located across the Galeru river, a tributary of Kundu River in Penner River basin, at Velugodu town in Nandyal district of Andhra Pradesh. This reservoir is part of Telugu Ganga project and mainly fed by gravity canal from back waters of Srisailam Dam through Pothireddypadu head / flow regulator located across the feeder canal. Velugodu Reservoir has gross storage capacity of 16.95Tmcft at 265 m MSL full reservoir level.
Nagarjuna Sagar tail pond is a multipurpose reservoir located 21 km downstream from the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam across the Krishna River near Satrasala in Nalgonda district, India. Its gross water storage capacity is 6 Tmcft. The reservoir water spread area extends up to the toe of the Nagarjuna Sagar dam. The project was completed by July 2014.
The "Somasila Dam" is a dam constructed across the Penna River near Somasila, Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, India. The reservoir impounded by the dam has a surface area of 212.28 km2 with live storage capacity of 1.994 km3 (1,616,562 acre⋅ft) or 75 tmcft.
Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project is a river interlinking project which connects Godavari River to Krishna River. This project has thereby become the first of such irrigation type projects in the country to be completed in time without any budget enhancements. It also holds a record in Limca Book of Records. The project was Inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Nara Chandrababu Naidu in March 2016 while the project was completed in one year record of time.
Vykuntapuram Barrage is an Indian barrage and water storage project. It is under construction on Krishna River 23 kilometers upstream of existing Prakasam Barrage with FRL 25M. It is designed to store 10 TMC of flood water coming from the Vyra and Munneru rivers. The backwater of this dam will extend beyond Pokkunuru to the toe of Pulichintala dam. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for this project on 13 February 2019.
Central Water Commission (CWC) is a premier Technical Organization of India in the field of Water Resources and is presently functioning as an attached office of the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. The Commission is entrusted with the general responsibilities of initiating, coordinating and furthering in consultation of the State Governments concerned, schemes for control, conservation and utilization of water resources throughout the country, for purpose of Flood Control, Irrigation, Navigation, Drinking Water Supply and Hydro Power Development. It also undertakes the investigations, construction and execution of any such schemes as required.
Janampet Barrage is a proposed barrage (dam) across Godavari River with full pond level (FPL) 67m. It would be located at Janampet village, Pinapaka, Bhadradri Kothagudem, India. This barrage was proposed as part of a proposal to link Godavari, Krishna, Penna and Cauvery rivers, which is part of Indian Rivers Interlinking Project.
Jogulamba Barrage is a proposed barrage across Krishna River with full pond level (FPL) 274m. It would be located at Veltoor village, Peddamandadi mandal, Wanaparthy district, Telangana, India. This barrage is proposed to divert 3 TMC of water via lift to Yedula Reservoir being built as part of Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme. This would also provide water for Dindi Lift Irrigation Project and Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme.
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