Ken - Betwa Link Project

Linking Rivers to Prosperity

Conserving water will remove poverty, the worst environmental pollutant in developing societies, says M.S.Menon

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and the Union Minister of Water, marks the beginning of a mega project of interlinking of rivers (ILR). This project is an important milestone for inter-basin transfer of waters. According to this understanding, a detailed project report on the link connecting the two interstate rivers will take into account all social and environmental aspects. Data gained will serve as a test case for undertaking more ambitious river link projects in the future.
The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP), one of 30 links proposed under the national Perspective plan for which feasibility studies were carried out by the National water Development Agency, envisages diversion of surplus waters from the Ken river to the water deficit Betwa river, as both are tributaries of Yamuna. According to the proposal, 1020 million cubic metres of will be diverted from Ken basin in a link canal that will be 231 km. long. The canal will traverse both states to provide irrigation and drinking water benefits to the people affected. Apart from power generation, the scheme would also provide incidental benefits such as ground water recharge, reservoir pisciculture, and better communications system due to increased infrastructure such as canal, roads etc. Total cost of the project is estimated as Rs.1988.74 Crore (1994-95 price level.)
India’s water resources are characterised by uneven distribution in space and time, leading to endemic and sporadic problems of floods and droughts. The ILR project will provide one solution to these perennial problems. While the scheme appealed to water-deficit states, water-endowed regions were not in favour of diverting their surpluses to needy basins. Hence, the immediate task of authorities was to build a consensus of States in agreement with the proposal. The signing of the MOU on Ken-Betwa link is the outcome of such efforts.
The ILR project has attracted criticisms from environmental and social activists, cynics and self-appointed experts. According to them, instead of wasting money and time on this project, it is better to go for viable micro-level water harvesting alternatives. Some misguided prophets have also forecast that – just like the national highways under the Golden Quadrilateral Project became a conveyor belts of noxious emissions – the canal system under the project will become an open sewer garlanding the length and breadth of the country.
The criticism against the ILR project is mainly because critics have not got their fundamental facts correct. They forget that the development of local micro-water harvesting structures has its own limitations, such as, supplementing water resources availability due to failing monsoons. More over, most local options have become white elephants in their implementation, such as, the ‘Neeru-Meeru’ scheme of Andhra Pradesh, various structures built in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, and the check dams in the Shivalik foot hills in Haryana.
The transfer of water from surplus to deficit areas to meet local requirements is not a new concept. Presently, more than 500 Billion Cubic Metres (BCM) of water are transferred through man-made links around the world. Even in India, long distance water transfer has existed for centuries and has served to help those in need.
Poverty is the worst environmental pollutant and its eradication will involve reform of land and water use. The ILR project will open up windows of opportunity for the poor struggling to survive recurring floods and droughts. Additionally, the major use of water is for food production. It is not that the farming community alone is responsible for the water crisis, but each of us, as consumers of food, is also contributing to the scarcity. As reported by the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage(ICID), in the process of producing a kilogram of food grain, 500 to 4000 litres of water are used, while to produce a kilogram of grain fed beef, 10000 litres of water are used. Thus, according to ICID, each of us, on a daily basis, ‘eats’ 2000 to 5000 litres of water, drinks 5 litres of water and uses 40 to 400 litres of water for hygiene and sanitation.
It is imperative that a detailed report be conducted to avert the looming water crisis that has arisen over the politicisation of water. Water surplus States must emulate the example shown by M.P and U.P. to shed hydro-politics and make the ILR project an immediate reality.
(The Pioneer, dated, 7th December,2005)