The document discusses India's water crisis and the proposed National River Linking Project (NRLP) as a solution to ease water shortages and manage floods. It outlines the project’s history, potential benefits, estimated costs, and significant concerns regarding ecological impact and feasibility. The conclusion suggests that the ambitious project may not be realizable in the near future and advocates for focusing on local resources and alternatives instead.

1. INTER LINKING OF RIVERS
IN INDIA:
A SOLUTION FOR WATER
CRISIS IN INDIA
OR
DESCISION IN DOUBT?
PRESENTED BY –
VIKAS KUMAR

2. INTRODUCTION
TODAY WE ARE WATER STRESSED, BUT
TOMORRROW WE WILL BE WATER
SCARCE.
WHY WILL BE INDIA WATER DEFICIT?
• Annual rainfall- 400 m.ha.m.
• Total utilizable surface and ground water
after full development of water resources-
114m.ha.m.
UTILIZATION:
• 1991- 58m.ha.m.
• 2001- 79m.ha.m
• 2025- 114m.ha.m
Thus the entire quantum of utilization water will
be exhausted by the year 2025.

3. Proposed solution
INTERLINKING OF RIVERS

4. NRLP
• The National River Linking Project
(NRLP) is designed to ease water
shortages in western and southern India
while mitigating the impacts of recurrent
floods in the eastern parts of the Ganga
basin.
• The NRLP, if and when implemented, will
be one of the biggest inter basin water
transfer projects in the world.

5. HISTORY OF INTERLINKING
• 1972-Ganga cauvery link proposed by Dr. K.L. Rao .
• 1974-“Garland canal” proposal by captain Dastur .
• 1980-Ministry of water resources frames the National perspective
plan(NPP) .
• 1982-The National water development agency (NWDA) set up to
carry out pre – feasibility studies .
• 1999-A National commission (NCIWRDP) set up to review NWDA
reports .
• Aug 15, 2002- President Abdul Kalam mentions the need for river
linking in his independence day speech .
• Oct 2002- Supreme court recommends that the government
formulate a plan to link the major Indian rivers by the year 2012.
• Dec 2002- Govt. appointed a task force on interlinking of 37
rivers led by Mr. Suresh Prabhu. The deadline was revised to
2016.

6. Contours of NRLP…
• Building 30 links, 3000 small and
large reservoirs, 12500 km of
canals to link 36 Himalayan and
Peninsular rivers to effect 178 km3
of inter-basin water transport.
• 35 million ha of new irrigated area;
35 GW of hydro-capacity;
navigation and flood control
benefits.
• Gestation Period: Proposed=2016;
Most Likely=2050
• Cost = Rs 560,000 cr. at 2002
prices (US $ 120 Billion); 1 - 1.5%
of India’s GDP for the next 3
decades.

7. The Inter-link consist of two parts, a Northern Himalayan River Development Component
and a Southern Peninsular River Development Component.

8. Himalayan Development
 The northern 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.
 The Brahmaputra and its tributaries
would be linked with the Ganga and
the Ganga with the Mahanadi river.
 This part of the project would
provide additional irrigation for
about 220,000 square kilometers
and generate about 30 gig watts of
electricity.
 It could also provide excess water
for the controversial Farakka
Barrage which could be used to
flush out the silt at the port of
Kolkata

9. Peninsular Development
 First, the Mahanadi, Godavari. Krishna
and Kaveri rivers would all be linked by
canals. The purpose of this would be to
transfer surplus water from the Mahanadi
and Godavari rivers to the south of India.
 Second, those rivers that flow west to the
north of Mumbai and the south of Tapi
would be linked. The water would be used
by the urban areas of Bombay and also to
provide irrigation in the coastal areas of
Maharashtra.
 Third the Ken and Chambal rivers would
be linked in order to provide better water
facilities for Madhya Pradesh and Uttar
Pradesh.
 Finally a number of west-flowing rivers
along the Western Ghats simply
discharge into the Arabian Sea.
 The Peninsular part of the project would
provide additional irrigation to 130,000
square kilometers and generation an
additional 4 gig watts of power.

10. Reasons & Motivation
Of
Inter Linking

11. Reasons And Motivation of Inter Linking
Regional rainfall variation: . The summer monsoon accounts for more than 85% of the precipitation.
Large parts of Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu are not only in deficit in rainfall but also subject to large variations, resulting in frequent
droughts and causing immense hardship to the population and enormous loss to the nation.
Regional variations in the rainfall lead to a situations when some parts of the country do not have enough
water even for raising a single crop. On the other hand excess rainfall occurring in some parts of the
country create havoc due to floods.
Futuristic Demand for Irrigation: At present estimate the "ultimate" irrigation potential of the country
being stated as 113 million Ha. However, to feed the estimated 1.5 to 1.8 billion people in 2050 with 450
million tons of food grains, India needs to increase its irrigation potential to 160 million hectares.
Hence, strategies like inter-basin water transfer are looked upon.
Domestic Water Needs :The per capita availability of utilizable water has been reduced progressively
from 3450 cubic meters to 1250 cubic meters from 1951 to 2000 owing to the increasing population. In the
next 50 years, it is likely to come down to 760 cubic meters (for a projected population of 1.6 billion) (Gupta
2001).Thus, at the household level, the per-capita availability has been reducing progressively and more
than 25% of villages suffer from drinking water problems (Gupta 2001).
To Control Floods and Droughts: Floods are a recurring feature, particularly in Brahmaputra
and Ganga rivers, in which almost 60 % of the river flows of our country occur.
Flood damages, which were Rs. 52 crores in 1953, have gone up to Rs. 5,846 crore in 1998 with
annual average being .Rs 1,343 crore affecting the States of Assam, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar
Pradesh along with untold human sufferings.
On the other hand large areas in the States of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu face recurring droughts. As much as 85 % of drought prone areas falls in these
States.

12. Stated Benefits
 Flood Control (40 million ha area and 260 million people saved
from floods that leads to damages of Rs 2400 crore/year)
 Drought proofing (86 million people in 14 states, 116 districts
saved)
 Relief of 1200 crore per year from floods/ drought damages
 Irrigation: 35 m ha & availability of drinking water.
 Hydropower generation 34 000 MW installed capacity
 Food grains production: 450 million tonnes by 2050
 Navigation
 Generation of employment

13. Flood/Drought
prevention
Rivers Average flood
discharge(cumecs)
Water to be diverted
through ILR
canal(cumecs)
Brahamputra 60,000 1,500 (2.5%)
Ganga 50,000 1,000 (2.0%)
 By creating network of rivers
flood & drought problem can be
greatly avoided by channeling
excess water to areas that are not
experiencing a flood or are dry.
This works similar to canal system
in Netherlands to channel excess
water from sea.
 Avoid the losses of the type that
occurred in 2002 to the extent of
$550 million by the loss of crops
because of extreme draught or
flood condition.
( ILR figures from official website: www.riverlinks.nic.in)
•ILR can clearly not help solve flood
/drought problems.
 According to President (speech on 110505) flood affects 8
major basins, 40 m ha and 260 m people; 86 m people, 14
states and 116 districts are affected by drought annually.
 ILR is to have Lined Canals with 1:3,000 to 1:5,000 slope or
0.33 to 0.20 m per km. Maximum flow velocity 2 m/s. A
100 m wide & 10 m deep lined canal can carry about
1,000 cumecs.
Can ILR solve flood “problem”?

14. Generation of electricity
Links will consume, and not generate power.
PUMPED LIFT OF WATER
 Ganga-Subarnarekha (G-S): 60m
 Subarnarekha-Mahanadi (S-M): 48 m
 Godavari-Krishna (G-K): 116m
Need for 3,400 MW of dedicated power generation.
[Source : http://riverlinks.nic.in/taskforce.asp ]
 Pumping water over the Vindhya Mountains
can transfer the Ganga-Brahmaputra water and
its tributaries to regions in the south.
 The Ganga-Brahmaputra floodplains are about
ten meters above mean sea level (MSL). The
Vindhya Mountains are about 300 m above
MSL, separating the floodplains of the north
from the Deccan Plateau, which is 250 m above
MSL (Vombatkere 2003).
 The electric power required to pump water to
such heights will be close to the current power
generation of the entire nation.
 One of the figures thrown
around by the proponents of
river links schemes is 30 000
MW which sometimes
becomes 34 000 MW as
power generation potential
of river link proposal.

15. ILR PRICE TAG
• The NWDA budgets the entire project at
Rs 5600 Billion ($112 B) at 2002 prices.
• The Himalayan component of this plan
would cost Rs 3750 Billion and the
peninsular part, Rs 1850 Billion.
• Where is the investible capital of this
magnitude available in the domestic
economy?
• The only option would be funds from
international sources.
• Apart from the fact that this would place
a debt of about $112 on every Indian
(where average annual income is $400-
$800), it also raises question about how
this loan is to be returned.
• Moreover, annual interest on this
amount would range between Rs 200
Billion and Rs 300 Billion. (NEWSTIME
271102, THE HINDU 020203)

16. ISSUES CAUSED BY INTERLINKING AND IT’S CONCERNS
1. Ecological issues – Major concern being the argument that rivers
change their course in 70–100 years and once they are linked, future
change of course can create huge practical problems for the project.
2. Aqua life – A number of leading environmentalists are of the opinion that
the project could be an ecological disaster. There would be a decrease in
downstream flows resulting in reduction of fresh water inflows into the
seas seriously jeopardizing aquatic life.
3. Deforestation –Creation of canals would need large areas of land
resulting large scale deforestation in certain area.
4. Areas getting submerged - Possibility of new dams comes with the
threat that habitable or reserved land getting submerged under water.
5. Displacement of people –As large strips of land might have to be
converted to canals, a considerable population living in this areas must
need to be rehabilitated to new areas.
6. Technical feasibility- The slope, altitude and other topographical aspects
have to be considered. (e.g. for Ganga, Patna is diversible surplus but for
raising water to Vindhya chain i.e. 2860 ft. high enormous amount of power
is required).

17. ALTERNATIVE TO INDIAN RIVER LINKING
1. Rainwater harvesting and conservation of water resources.
2. Recharging ground water reservoir.
3. Community participation: President of India visited Alwar to honour the
people of Bhavta Kolyali villages for their successful community work in harvesting water
and along with 72 other villages of Arvari river basin, make the river perennial .
4. Maintaining existing irrigation Infrastructure: The irrigation
efficiencies are notoriously low at around 35% at best. As mid term of review of 9th Plan
made it clear, even 10% increase in irrigation efficiency could lead to additional irrigation
potential of 14 M Ha. That would still be far from the optimum possible efficiency. Should
we not be attempting this on priority basis?
5. Virtual Water Trade : The virtual water trade concept suggest that water-rich
countries should produce and export water-intensive commodities to water-scarce
countries, thereby enabling the latter to divert their precious water resources to
alternative, higher-productivity uses. Analysis by Verma et al. (2008) shows that the amount
of virtual water traded between states is more or less equivalent to the water transfers of
178 Bm3 proposed in the NRLP. The concept of virtual water can be one of the alternatives
to river linking.

18. Current Status..
A Group on IntraState River links has been constituted by MoWR, RD & GR on 12.03. 2015.
The Group has reviewed all relevant issues on Intra – State River Links including the definition of
such link, consider and suggest about the funding of intrastate river link projects. The Group has
held various meetings and submitted its report on 28.05.2015 to the Ministry of Water Resource,
RD & GR.
Ken – Betwa Link Project
The various clearances for Ken – Betwa link project are in the advance stages and the
Government will start implementing this National Project as model link project of ILR
programme.
Damanganga – Pinjal Link Project
The DPR of Damanganga – Pinjal link was completed in March, 2014 and submitted to
Governments of Maharasthra and Gujarat. Govt. of Maharasthra has submitted the Detailed
Project Report of Damanganga – Pinjal link project to Central Water Commission during January,
2015 for appraisal.
Mahanadi – Godavari Link Project
Mahanadi Godavari link is the first and critical link of nine link system of MahanadiGodavari-
KrishnaPennarCauvery VaigaiGundar under Peninsular Component of NPP.
The Government of Odisha was not agreeable for the Mahanadi (Manibhadra) Godavari
(Dowlaiswaram) link due to large submergence involved in Manibhadra dam proposed under the
link project.
Based on the suggestions of WRD, Govt. of Odisha, NWDA has proposed a revised preliminary
proposal of Mahanadi Godavari link project with reduced submergence. A presentation on the
revised proposal of MahanadiGodavari link project has been made to the Hon’ble Chief Minister,
Govt. of Odisha on 29.05.2015 by the senior officers of MoWR, RD & GR.

19. Conclusion
• Considering the pragmatic view of all the issues raised it
can be concluded that implementation of this ambitious
scheme is not easily possible in foreseeable future. The
fundamental trouble with the idea of river linking plans,
then is that the idea has no studies or sound basis.
• Hence it can be a better option to concentrate on the
local resources and think upon the alternatives available.
• River interlinking will create a human disaster to rival
Mohammed Tughlak’s shifting of the capital from Delhi to
Daulatabad in the fourteenth century .

20. Reference
• Water Policy Research : By Upali Amarasinghe.
• South Asia Network On Dams, Rivers & People; SANDRP New
Delhi.
• River Linking -S. Kalyanaraman.
• INTER-LINKING OF INDIAN RIVERS-NEED AND IMPORTANCE:
R.K.Sivanappan Journal of Indian Water resources Society, Vol
32, No. 3-4, July-Oct, 2012.
• www.riverlinks.nic.in
• Anatomy of Interlinking Rivers in India: By A.C Shukla &
Vandana Asthana.
• INTERLINKING OF RIVERS IN INDIA: ISSUES & CHALLENGES
: By DHARMENDRA MEHTA, NAVEEN K. MEHTA.
• Ministry of Water Resources, Government of india.