interlinking of rivers will solve the water crisis in India

interlinking of rivers will solve the water crisis in India as some regions are scarce but safety measures should be adopted so that it should not lead flooding Water, one of the most valuable free gift of nature and part and parcel of life saving gas oxygen, is the life and blood of all creatures of earth without which none can survive. Water, as referred in Vedas and other socio-economic documents, consists of ecological, biological, geological, social, physical, religious, political and cultural values. Today, water scarcity has emerged as global problem consequently, more informed approach is being recognised and articulated all over the globe. India has been facing acute water crises despite its adequacy with growing needs on account of rapid population growth, economic development, pollution and climatic changes. She has been the victim of recurring floods and droughts in maximum part of its geographical areas. Thus, for the permanent solution of severe and recurring droughts and floods and scarcity of drinking water the connectivity of Indian rivers has been suggested as quite essential. Keeping in view the various issues like environmental, social, economic, political and inter-state conflicts, International conflicts of rivers water sharing etc., the interlinking of rivers in India is the only solution. The idea behind river interlinking is based on the fact that an enormous amount of water from rivers flows into the sea. It is envisaged that if this is prevented and water is transferred from water surplus rivers deficit, there will be adequate supply of water for everyone in every part of the country. The concept of river interlinking is not new because, during the tenure of Mughal the Yamuna and Agra Canal was constructed. Through these canals the water from Himalaya is made available to Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. TIRUPATI: President A P J Abdul Kalam prescribed a nine point programme for the development of the country on Saturday (8 June 2003). The President, addressing the engineering students at Kuppam, said that the core areas which need the concentration and attention of everyone were agriculture production, education, health care, information and communication technology, exports and infrastructure building. Stressing the need to find a solution for the perennial drought in the country, he appealed to engineering students to go into interior areas of Kuppam and do research on ancient ponds. "Your mission should aim at bringing water for all villages and this should be your Kuppam Vision," he said. He opined that there was a greater need for inter-linking of rivers in the country to tackle the water crisis. Rivers like Cauvery, Krishna, Tungabhadra and others needed to be inter-linked to solve the severe problem of water crisis, he said. Kalam appreciated the efforts of chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in promoting girl child education in the state. Andhra Pradesh was doing a commendable job in this area after Kerala and Tamil Nadu, he said. He further said about 70 per cent of population was in rural areas and to alleviate poverty, the gross domestic product (GDP) should be raised from 4.5 per cent to 10 per cent with which development could be possible, he added. Later, inaugurating the Peoples Education Society (PES) Medical College at Kuppam, he asked the doctors and engineers to join hands to take up irrigation works and mobile clinics to solve the problems such as water crisis and heat wave deaths. He further said the mobile clinics set up in remote villages of Uttaranchal received good response. There is a need to educate people on HIV, tuberculosis and cardiac ailments to make India a disease-free country, the president maintained in his address. Three states recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the issue of interlinking of rivers, said Union Minister for Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs Pawan Kumar Bansal while addressing a seminar on "Water conservation and management" organised by the PHD Chamber here today. Giving details, he said the states, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, had agreed to work out modalities concerning management of water resources in their states. Expecting 20 per cent increase in the efficiency in utilisation of water resources after inter-linking; he said the Union Government was also chalking out plans for other identified inter-linking points. The minister said the present proposal envisaged 30 links, including 16 peninsular and 14 Himalayan links, which were identified by the National Water Development Agency. Due to international compulsions, the Union Government was facing problems in proceeding with the river inter-linking project as regards points identified in the Himalayan region, he added. He said efficiency in water use was mere 40 per cent in India, while it was around 60 per cent in many other countries. Changing lifestyles of the people had put a lot of pressure on water resources and hence there was a need to make the masses aware about the need of water conservation, he added.