Inter Basin Water Transfer Link Project of India

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LINKING OF RIVERS Many Hurdles Yet To Be Crossed
By KALIPADA BASU

The Statesman
23.03.2005
India

The proposed linking of North and South Indian rivers has raised doubts about the feasibility of the project. The government and the apex court have given the green signal to the project costing Rs 560,000 crore at the 2002 price level. The break-up of the expenditure is: Rs 106,000 crores for peninsular development, Rs 185,000 crores for Himalaya river development and Rs 269,000 crores for the hydro-power component. The idea was first mooted by Sir Arthur Cotton 150 years ago. The point was raised again by KL Rao in 1966-67 when he was irrigation minister. He pleaded for a National Water Grid in 1972.

The main idea is that in the north the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra carry water throughout the year because these rivers have originated from the Himalayan glaciers. During the rainy season these rivers overflow causing floods in vast areas and 70 per cent of the surplus water during the monsoon is wasted. At the same time, the southern states suffer from scarcity of water.


Food production
The idea is that the surplus water of the Himalayan rivers can be transferred to the south by linking Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra grid with the Mahanadi-Krishna-Kaveri-Gadabari grid through 32 canals. That is, during the monsoon, the north’s excess water can be diverted to the south for irrigation, power production, navigation and supply of drinking water.

The National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development Plan and National Water Development Agency made in-depth studies on the project. NCIWRD recommended in 1999 that the project was feasible. A detailed project report was submitted to the government. According to NCIWRD studies, there are 16 major peninsular rivers in the south and 14 Himalayan rivers in the North excluding tributaries. The major peninsular rivers have their origins in the Western Ghats. The Himalayan rivers and the rivers originating from the Western Ghat have water throughout the year, but apart from the monsoon, these rivers become lean. Some rivers, especially in the south, remain dry almost seven to eight months in a year.

KL Rao suggested that the Ganga and the Kaveri can be linked from near Patna for release of 60,000 cubic feet of water per second during the monsoon, i.e., for five months. The length of dams and canals would be 2,640 km. This project would cost Rs 12,500 crores (1972 price). Nearly 5,000 to 7,000 kwt of power would be required to lift water to small mountains and hills on the way and release it in the southern grid.

Experts argue that India has four per cent of the water resources of the world, but bears the burden of 15 per cent of the world population. Per capita water availability in India was 6,006 cubic metres in 1947. It will go down to 1140 cmt in 2050. The population of India will reach 160-170 crores by 2050 and this population will need 450 metric tons of food. The production of foodgrain in India is 208 mt (2002-03). Therefore, water will be necessary for irrigation purposes. The Brahmaputra basin has 3000 cubic metre water against 300 cmt in the south and the west. This unequal distribution of water can be corrected by the inter-linking of north-south rivers.

Water distribution
The total length of Indian rivers is 170,000 kilometres. Only three per cent of available water is used for domestic needs, 1.3 per cent for industry and the rest is needed for agriculture.
Experts feel that if the project is implemented, 35 million hectares of land can be irrigated and 35,000 MW hydro-electricity will be produced at the releasing points of dams and in hilly areas. This can be done by 32 links. The whole project will take 35 years to complete. Agricultural production will increase and employment opportunities will be expanded. Cement, steel, brick, transport and other capital goods industries will be boosted at the time of construction and engineers, technicians and others will get jobs.

These are the positive sides of the river project. There has been a public interest litigation on this issue and the Supreme Court ordered on 31 October 2002 that the project must be taken up by the Union government. The feasibility report and the project report should be submitted in 2005 and 2006, respectively, and the whole project must be finished by 2015. On the basis of this order, the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announced in the Lok Sabha on 20 November 2002 that the government would take up the interlinking of rivers with all earnestness. The government set up a task force in December 2002 under the chairmanship of Suresh Prabhu for monitoring the project. The Himalayan canals would be 4,200 km long and the peninsular canals would have a 9,300 km path for distribution of water.

Inter-linking of Indian rivers was a subject of discussion at the 87th annual conference of the Indian Economic Association held at Benaras Hindu University on 21-23 December 2004. The economists were divided on the issue, especially on cost benefit factors. Representatives of the southern states pleaded for the project and argued that the total cost is not much considering the benefits that would go to the people. The Union Budget for 2003-2004 was Rs 465,741 crores. The project cost would be spread over several years. Hence, the annual cost would range from Rs 37,333 crores to Rs 56,000 crores.

But there is another side to the picture. Besides money cost, the real cost should be taken into account. It has been estimated that nearly 4.25 lakh people would be displaced and the project report has said nothing about it. A huge quantity of steel, cement and other scarce material would be utilised and it may escalate the price of these materials in the open market causing hardship to the common people. Land acquisition will not be easy. Litigations will stand in the way of its implementation. The total expenditure will increase manifold if the project is not completed within the time limit. NCIWRD has shown that it will take at least 35 years to complete it and, if that is so, the cost will be seven times that of the estimated cost.

Political disputes
Another problem is that the Brahmaputra has its origin in China. The river is 2,880 km long and 1625 km are in China, 918 kms in India and 337 kms in Bangladesh. China has taken up a river valley project involving the Brahmaputra and that will divert 40 per cent of water of the river to that country. The Himalayan rivers now do not carry water as they did earlier and this has happened because of silt in the river bed and scanty rainfall. Owing to geographical and geological reasons, rainfall in the whole country has dwindled. North India will suffer from water scarcity in coming years.

The project will create political problems also. The northern states are not willing to accept the idea. We are acquainted with the river water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu with regard to discharge of water from the Kaveri basin. Numerous quarrels will crop up among the states and that will become political in nature. Southern states will demand more and more releases of water from lock gates of dams and canals, but the northern states will oppose it.
Disputes will also arise with neighbouring countries — Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Pakistan — if India proceeds with the project. Bangladesh has already objected because it may be deprived of Ganga and Brahmaputra water. Pakistan will not remain silent if the Indus is linked with the northern grid of rivers. Bhutan may impose conditions on construction of reservoirs. It is feared that the whole project may flop even after the huge expenditure. A division between north and south on this issue is not ruled out. The project will create lots of problems which will be difficult to tackle. The Benaras conference hinted at such possibilities.

The author teaches economics in Bagati Sreegopal Banerjee College, Magra, Hooghly

Source: The Statesman

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