Daily News Analysis

KEN- BETWA RIVER LINKAGE

09 Oct,2023 Download Pdf 8 Min Read

KEN- BETWA RIVER LINKAGE

Why in the News?

The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) involving cost of Rs 44,605-crore has finally secured the final forest clearance after 6 years of getting the provisional nod.

Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP):

It is the first project under the National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers.
The project intends to transfer water from the Ken River to the Betwa river, both tributaries of river Yamuna.
The project will be implemented in 2 phases:
1. Phase-I: Daudhan dam complex and its appurtenances like Low Level Tunnel, High Level Tunnel, Ken-Betwa link canal and Power houses will be completed.
2. Phase-II: 3 components that includes Lower Orr dam, Bina complex project and Kotha barrage will be constructed.
The project will provide,
1. Annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh hectares
2. Drinking water supply to about 62 lakh people
3. Generate 103 MW of hydropower.
The drought-prone region of Bundelkhand will get benefitted as the project spreads across 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Concern:
1. The Daudhan dam of Ken Betwa Link Project shall cause submergence of 6,017 ha of forest area.
2. 4,206 ha of area of the project lies within the core tiger habitat of Panna Tiger Reserve.

Recent developments on interlinking of rivers in India:

Dr K L Rao, the then Union Irrigation Minister suggested construction of a National Water Grid for transferring water from water-rich areas to water-deficit areas in 1970s.
Later, a Garland Canal to redistribute water from one area to another was proposed.
The govt dropped both the plans, to take up National Perspective Plan (NNP) for inter basin water transfer in the country. It comprised two components:
1. Himalayan Rivers Development
2. Peninsular Rivers Development
Based on the NPP, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) identified 30 river links for water resource development:
1. 16 under Peninsular component
2. 14 under Himalayan Component
Generally, 4-5 types of clearances are required for the interlinking of river projects and they include:
1. Techno-economic (given by the Central Water Commission)
2. Forest Clearance and Environmental clearance (Ministry of Environment & Forests)
3. Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) Plan of Tribal Population (Ministry of Tribal Affairs)
4. Wildlife clearance (Central Empowered Committee)
The interlinking of rivers programme is based on the principle of consensus and agreement among the concerned States.

S.No	Name	Rivers	States concerned
Peninsular Component
1(a)	Mahanadi (Manibhadra)– Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link	Mahanadi and Godavari	Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka and Maharashtra
1(b)	Mahanadi (Bermul)– Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link	Mahanadi and Godavari	do
2	Godavari(Inchampall)-Krishna(Pulichintala) link	Godavari and Krishna	Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka
3	Godavari(Inchampalli)-Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link	Godavari and Krishna	--do--
3	Godavari(Inchampalli)-Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link	Godavari and Krishna	--do--
4	Godavari(Polavaram)-Krishna(Vijayawada) link	Godavari and Krishna	--do--
5	Krishna(Almatti) –Pennar link	Krishna and Pennar	Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,Maharashtra and Karnataka
6	Krishna (Srisailam)–Pennar link	Krishna and Pennar	--do--
7	Krishna(Nagarjunasagar)-Pennar (Somasila) link	Krishna and Pennar	--do--
7	Krishna(Nagarjunasagar)-Pennar (Somasila) link	Krishna and Pennar	--do--
8	Pennar (Somasila)–Cauvery(Grand Anicut) link	Pennar and Cauvery	Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry
8	Pennar (Somasila)–Cauvery(Grand Anicut) link	Pennar and Cauvery
9	Cauvery (Kattalai)–Vaigai–Gundar link	Cauvery, Vaigai and Gundar	Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry
10	Ken–Betwa link	Ken and Betwa	Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
11 (i)	Parbati – Kalisindh –Chambal link	Parbati, Kalisindhand Chambal	Madhya Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan requested to be Consulted during consensus building)
(ii)	Parbati-Kuno-Sindh link	Parbati, Kuno and Sindh	Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
12	Par-Tapi-Narmada link	Par, Tapi and Narmada	Maharashtra and Gujarat
13	Damanganga – Pinjal link	Damanganga and Pinjal	--do--
14	Bedti-Varada link	Bedti and Varada	Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
15	Netravati – Hemavati link	Netravati and Hemavati	Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala
16	Pamba - Achankovil –Vaippar link	Pamba,Achankovil and Vaippar	Kerala and Tamil Nadu

Himalayan Component
1.	Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga(M-S-T-G)link	Manas,Sankosh, Tista and Ganga	BHUTAN&INDIA (Assam,West Bengal and Bihar)
2.	Kosi-Ghaghra link	Kosi and Ghaghra	NEPAL&INDIA (Bihar and Uttar Pradesh)
3.	Gandak-Ganga link	Gandak and Ganga
4.	Ghaghra-Yamuna link	Ghaghra and Yamuna
5.	Sarda-Yamuna link	Sarda and Yamuna	NEPAL&INDIA (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana And Rajasthan)
6.	Yamuna-Rajasthan link	Yamuna and Sukri	Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and UttarPradesh
7.	Rajasthan-Sabarmati link	Sabarmati
8.	Chunar-Sone Barrage link	Ganga and Sone	Bihar and Uttar Pradesh
9.	Sone Dam – Southern Tributaries of Ganga link	Sone and Badua	Bihar and Jharkhand
10.	Ganga (Farakka)-Damodar- Subernarekha link	Ganga, Damodar and Subernarekha	West Bengal,Odisha and Jharkhand
11.	Subernarekha-Mahanadi link	Subernarekha and Mahanadi	West Bengal and Odisha
12.	Kosi-Mechi Link	Kosi and Mechi	NEPAL & INDIA (Bihar and West Bengal)
13.	Ganga (Farakka)-Sunderbans link	Ganga and Ichhamati	West Bengal
14.	Jogighopa-Tista-Farakkalink(Alternative to M-S-T-G)	Manas,Tista and Ganga	Assam, Bihar andWest Bengal

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