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Interview
Suresh Prabhu, chairman, task force for
inter-linking rivers
Economics is linked to our rivers
Suresh Prabhu is a man with a mission. The chartered
accountant made his mark as a result-oriented and straight-talking minister
in the Vajpayee government. He has handled portfolios as diverse as
industries, chemicals and fertilisers, environment and forests and finally,
power. Then came the bizarre request from his party (Shiv Sena) chief Bal
Thackeray that he resign to make room for a more "obedient" minister.
Water is one of the most sensitive commodities in the country. Since we
neglected the issue for five decades, it has become a big headache.
V ajpayee gave him up with
regret, but not for long. When he embarked on his 'second big dream' (the
first one was the golden quadrilateral road network) of linking Himalayan
and peninsular rivers, he asked Prabhu to head the task force implementing
the Rs 1,10,000-crore project.
In an interview with The Week, Prabhu spoke of the pros and cons of the
project, its ecological implications and his own approach. Excerpts:
You intend to link almost all rivers in the country. Do
you think it will work?
The central theme of all proposals-put forward by statesmen and engineers
like Sir M. Visveswaraya, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and K.L. Rao-was how to
optimise the use of water resources. Transfer of water within a basin is not
enough. We have to transfer large quantities from a surplus basin to a
deficit one through a network of canals and storage reservoirs.
It is considered an impractical idea.
The idea was impractical when a lot of power was required to transfer water
from Himalayan rivers to the peninsular ones. But now experts agree that
water can be transferred using natural gravity, which means less power
costs.
We have 45 link projects that will connect rivers from the Brahmaputra in
the east to the Vaippar in the south, and the big basins like the Indo-Gangetic,
Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. This will
provide 35 million hectares of additional irrigation area and generate 34
million kw of power. Food production will double from 220 million tonnes to
450 million.
 This project has many
benefits. It will produce a lot of hydroelectricity, which will be a
solution to our power problem. The network of waterways will bring down
transportation costs.
What are the other benefits?
It will create many jobs-construction jobs when the rivers are being linked,
and new jobs in manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, fisheries and
tourism. The urbanisation trend can be reversed by creating farm and
off-farm jobs in rural areas through the project.
Intangible benefits include the creation of a sense of national unity. By
bringing technology to rural areas, the urban-rural divide will become less.
The Green Revolution in hitherto water-starved areas will bring down the
menace of Naxalism in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, which is
happening because of the lack of jobs. This will also improve national
security.
But we have rainfall for a very short period. This
means we will need huge reservoirs to store the rainwater.
Eighty per cent of our rainfall happens in the four months from June to
September, and most of that occurs in 15 days, causing floods and wastage of
water. We need to store water for use over long periods. Whether storage
reservoirs should be big or small, I leave it to experts. We are not taking
away the water from a surplus state. We are only storing and transporting
the water which cannot be used in that state or basin. It is a win-win
situation.
Some states have reservations about this scheme.
How will you overcome them?
Water is one of the most sensitive commodities in the country. Politics,
economics and emotions are linked to our rivers. Since we neglected the
issue for five decades, it has become a big headache. But this project is
the answer to all inter-state disputes.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has written to all party chief ministers to
rise above politics and put an end to water shortage. Our arable land can
sustain many more if there is assured water supply. The chief ministers I
spoke to are very keen on the project.
As we go along, we will address the concerns of every state. Disputes come
up only in the years of deficit. If we can increase availability of water,
there will be no disputes.
Can the Centre implement a Rs 1,10,000-crore
project? According to a Parliament reply, there has been a delay in the
execution of irrigation projects, which need Rs 70,000 crore more.
If water is not a political issue, water projects cannot be delayed. We have
completed many projects on time, like the road project and the Delhi Metro.
In other countries, contractors are punished for delays. Cost is the key to
success, which is why China is more successful than India.
How will the task force help?
We will use technology to ensure there are no problems-remote sensing to
check on water availability and terrain, computer-simulated models to find
the most cost- and time-efficient way of linking rivers. This will help
predict ecological issues.
There are fears that the project will be a huge
ecological disaster.
We can factor these fears into our simulation models. There are charges that
the project will lead to desertification. Let us feed hydrological and other
details into the computer to see if diversion of water from a surplus basin
to a deficit one will lead to desertification or greening.
Another charge is that there will be huge siltage of rivers and channels.
But experts say that flood control measures will actually reduce siltage. We
have approached the Indian Institutes of Technology to work on this aspect.
Till now some projects got delayed because such problems were realised only
when the project was halfway through. But now we will know exactly what the
end-product will be, even before we commence. A third constraint is funds.
This will be worked out in advance so that there will be no delays due to
lack of funds.
But the surplus water is in the Himalayas, the west
coast and parts of the east coast, the most fragile biospheres of the earth.
You will submerge huge forests if you conserve rainwater here. Is it worth
losing these habitats?
Water is the only resource that cannot be manufactured. You can clone a man
but water cannot be made in large quantities.
We have to use rainwater, which needs rainforests. The Western Ghats and
eastern Himalayas, the hotspots of biodiversity, will be kept out of bounds.
Through satellite imagery, we can locate spots that are not too
eco-sensitive for storage reservoirs and canals. Our approach is most
eco-friendly because we are not doing it by trial and error.
We have to look at water in a holistic way because we have a huge population
which needs large quantities of water. The benefits will outweigh the costs.
What is the global experience on transferring water
from one basin to another?
China is now attempting a major transfer of water from the Yang Tse river in
the south to the Yellow River and beyond in the north. It has been done in
the US and in European countries. We have done it in Rajasthan and also
between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. We have to learn from the good and bad
experiences. We have the advantage of learning and unlearning.
What is your timetable?
We have to complete it by 2016, as per the Supreme Court directive. It is a
stiff target. We will complete the work of the task force in the next two
years.
By going for this mega project, have we given up
alternate development strategies like watershed development and drip
irrigation?
It is a three-level strategy. We need village-level intervention to preserve
every drop of water. Dry rivers, ponds and other water bodies have to be
revived. Finally we need national-level projects. We have to devise better
ways to utilise water.
The Week
By Sachidananda Murthy
May 30, 2003 |
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