Lok Sabha Question No. 1728 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-28
Subject: Gigantic Project for Linking of Rivers
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: RATTAN LAL KATARIA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA UN STARRED QUESTION NO. 1728

ANSWERED ON 28

## .12.2017

## GIGANTIC PROJECT FOR LINKING OF RIVERS

## 1728. SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA

Will the Minister of WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is all set to start a gigantic project of river linking at an e 887 billions to connect 60 of India's large st rivers;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government is aware about the several issues before spending billions of r projects; and

(d) if so, the details thereof and the steps that have been taken first to sort out these i ssues?

## ANSWER

## THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  WATER  RESOURCES, RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND  GANGA REJUVENATION & PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

## ( SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHW AL )

(a)  &  (b)The  National  Perspective  Plan  (NPP)  was  prepared  by  the  then  Ministry  of  Irrig Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD & GR) in Aug 1980 for water resources development through inter basin transfer of wate r, for transferring water fro water  surplus  basins  to  water - deficit  basins.  Under  the  NPP,  the  National  Water  Development  Ag (NWDA) has identified 30 links (16 under Peninsular Component & 14 under Himalayan Componen preparation of Feasibility R eports. The Pre - Feasibility Report of the all 30 links have been prepa circulated to the concerned State Governments by the NWDA. After survey and investigations, Reports of 14 links under Peninsular Component and Feasibility Reports of 2 links and draft Feasibilit Reports  of  7  links  (Indian  portion)  under  Himalayan  Component  have  been  completed.  Pres States concerned with Inter Basin Water Transfer Links are given in Annexure .

Four  priority  links  under  Peninsular  Rivers  Comp onent  have  been  identified  for  preparation Detailed Project Reports (DPR) viz; Ken - Betwa link project (KBLP) Phase -I & II, Damanganga - Pinjal link project, Par - Tapi - Narmada link project and Mahanadi - Godavari link project. The preparation of D of a pro ject is taken up only after consent of concerned State Governments. Based on the co the concerned States, DPRs of KBLP Phase -I & Phase -II, Damanganga -Pinjal link project and Par - Tapi Narmada  link  project  have  been  completed.  The  techno - economic clearance  and  various  statutor clearances of the KBLP Phase -I have been accorded. The techno - economic clearance of the Damanganga -Pinjal link project has also been accorded subject to statutory clearances. The DPR of Par - Tapi - Narmada link project has bee n submitted for technical appraisal in Central Water Commission. The DPR Mahanadi -Godavari  link  could  not  be  taken  up  as  the  Government  of  Odisha  was  not  agre Mahanadi -Godavari link, a mother link of 9 link system viz., Mahanadi -Godav ari -Krishna -Pennar -Palar -Cauvery -Vaigai -Gundar linkage due to large submergence involved in Manibhadra Dam. B on  the  suggestions  of  WRD,  Govt.  of  Odisha,  NWDA  has  prepared  a  preliminary  revised  pro Mahanadi- Godavari Link Project wi th reduced submergence and submitted to the State Govt. of O for consideration.

The draft Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) for implementation of KBLP has been se respective States UP & MP for concurrence and draft MoU for implementation of Damanganga - Pinjal link project and Par - Tapi - Narmada link project have been sent to respective States Maharashtra & Gu concurrence.

The total expenditure on Inter Linking of Rivers (ILR) programme was estimated to be lakh crores (2002 - 03 price level) based on NWDA studies. National Council of Applied Economic Resea estimated that the cost of ILR project to be Rs.4.44 lakh crore (2003 - 04 price level). The exact requireme on realistic basis will be available onl y after the preparation of DPRs of all the links.

(c) & (d) Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) programme has been taken up on high priority. The Gov well  aware  about  the  several  issues  involved  in  the  ILR  programme.  The  Government  is  pu Interlinking of Rivers program in a consultative manner.

The Supreme Court vide its judgment dated 27.02.2012 in the Writ Petition (Civil) No. on  'Networking  of  Rivers'  along  with  Writ  Petition  No.  668  of  2002  directed  the  Union  of  India  and particularly the Ministry of Water Resources to constitute a Committee under the chairmansh of Water Resources for the implementation of ILR.

As per the directions of Supreme Court, a committee called 'Special Committee on Interlinking of Riv ers'  was  constituted  under  the  Chairmanship  of  the  Union  Minister  of  Water  Resources,  River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD & GR) for the implementation of ILR programme vi Gazette Notification dated 23rd September, 2014. Thirteen meetings of the Special Committee for ILR have been held so far (last meeting held on 27.07.2017 at New Delhi), wherein State Irri Resources Ministers along with the Secretaries of various States participated. The Special ILR  takes  into  consi deration  all  the  suggestions/observations  of  the  stakeholders  while  pl formulating the ILR projects.

The Committee, after considering the views of all the stakeholders, is proceeding ahe the objectives of the interlinking of rivers as per terms of reference. Vigorous efforts have been ma generating  consensus  with  development  of  alternative  plans  and  also  setting  out  roa implementation of mature projects.

The Special Committee for ILR has constituted four specific su b- committees; (i) Sub - committee for comprehensive evaluation of various studies/reports (ii) Sub - Comm ttee for system studies for identifications of most appropriate alternate plan, (iii) Sub - Committee for restructuring of National Wat Development Agencyand (iv) Sub - Committee for consensus building through negotiations and arri agreement between concerned States to discharge its functions.

The Union Cabinet while approving the constitution of Special Committee for ILR in i held on 24 th July, 2014 directed that a committee comprising of experts be constituted to l issues relating to inter linking of rivers. In compliance to the direction of Union Cabin GR vide O.M. dated 13 th April, 2015  has constituted a Task F orce for Interlinking of Rivers (TF -ILR) under  the  Chairmanship  of  Shri  B.N.  Navalawala,  Chief  Advisor,  MoWR,  RD&GR.  So  far,  eig meetings of the TF -ILR has been held and the last meeting was held on 15.09.2017.

TF-ILR on 18.07.2016 has constituted a Group to look into legal aspects and required ena provisions  for  implementation  of  Interlinking  of  Rivers  and  other  related  issues.  The  l completed its assigned task and submitted its report to the Chairman, TF -ILR on 17 th March 2017.

In addition, a Group for Financial Aspects under TF -ILR was also constituted on 12.09.2017 consider  the  financial  aspects  of  ILR  projects  and  to  suggest  the  funding  pattern  for  i same. Three meetings of the Group were held so far and the last meeting was held on 08.12.2017.

*****

## ANNEXURE

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) & (b) of Unstarred Question No. 1728 to be ans in Lok Sabha on 28.12.2017 regarding Gigantic Project for Linking of Rivers.

## Present status of Inter Basin Water Transfer Links, the States involved, name of rivers and status of Feasibility Reports/Detailed Project Report

| Sl. No               | Name                                                   | Rivers                         | States concerned                                                                                   | Status                        |
|----------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| Peninsular Component | Peninsular Component                                   |                                |                                                                                                    |                               |
| 1                    | Mahanadi (Manibhadra) - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link   | Mahanadi & Godavari            | Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, & Chattisgarh                                      | FR Completed                  |
| 2                    | Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Pulichintala)        | link Godavari & Krishna        | - do-                                                                                              | FR Completed                  |
| 3                    | Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link | Godavari & Krishna             | Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka & Chattisgarh,                      | FR Completed                  |
| 4                    | Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada)            | link Godavari & Krishna        | Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, & Chattisgarh                                      | FR Completed                  |
| 5                    | Krishna (Almatti) - Pennar link                        | Krishna & Pennar               | - do-                                                                                              | FR Completed                  |
| 6                    | Krishna (Srisailam) - Pennar link                      | Krishna & Pennar               | - do-                                                                                              | FR Completed                  |
| 7                    | Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link     | Krishna & Pennar               | Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh& Karnataka,                                                            | FR Completed                  |
| 8                    | Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link        | Pennar & Cauvery               | Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Puducherry                                         | FR Completed                  |
| 9                    | Cauvery (Kattalai) -Vaigai - Gundar link               | Cauvery, Vaigai & Gundar       | Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Puducherry                                                         | FR Completed                  |
| 10                   | Ken -Betwa link                                        | Ken & Betwa                    | Uttar Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh                                                                     | FR & DPR (Ph- I&II) Completed |
| 11                   | Parbati - Kalisindh - Chambal link                     | Parbati, Kalisindh & Chambal   | Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan & Uttar Pradesh (UP requested to be consulted during consensus building) | FR Completed                  |
| 12                   | Par - Tapi - Narmada link                              | Par, Tapi & Narmada            | Maharashtra & Gujarat                                                                              | FR & DPR Completed            |
| 13                   | Damanganga -Pinjal link                                | Damanganga & Pinjal            | Maharashtra & Gujarat                                                                              | FR & DPR Completed            |
| 14                   | Bedti-Varda link                                       | Bedti & Varda                  | Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka                                                            | PFR Completed                 |
| 15                   | Netravati - Hemavati link                              | Netravati & Hemavati           | Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Kerala                                                                     | PFR Completed                 |
| 16                   | Pamba -Achankovil- Vaippar link                        | Pamba, Achankovil & Vaippar    | Kerala &Tamil Nadu,                                                                                | FR Completed                  |
| Himalayan Component  | Himalayan Component                                    |                                |                                                                                                    |                               |
| 1.                   | Manas - Sankosh- Tista - Ganga (M-S- T-G) link         | Manas - Sankosh- Tista - Ganga | Assam, West Bengal, Bihar& Bhutan                                                                  | PFR completed                 |
| 2.                   | Kosi- Ghaghra link                                     | Kosi & Ghaghra                 | Bihar , Uttar Pradesh & Nepal                                                                      | PFR completed                 |
| 3.                   | Gandak-Ganga link                                      | Gandak & Ganga                 | - do-                                                                                              | Draft FR completed            |

| Sl. No   | Name                                                        | Rivers                             | States concerned                                              | Status                                   |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
|          |                                                             |                                    |                                                               | (Indian portion)                         |
| 4.       | Ghaghra- Yamuna link                                        | Ghaghra & Yamuna                   | - do-                                                         | FR completed (Indian portion)            |
| 5.       | Sarda - Yamuna link                                         | Sarda & Yamuna                     | Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand & Nepal | FR completed (Indian portion)            |
| 6.       | Yamuna - Rajasthan link                                     | Yamuna & Sukri                     | Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana & Rajasthan                   | Draft FR completed                       |
| 7.       | Rajasthan - Sabarmati link                                  | Sabarmati                          | - do-                                                         | Draft FR completed                       |
| 8.       | Chunar- Sone Barrage link                                   | Ganga & Sone                       | Bihar &Uttar Pradesh                                          | Draft FR completed                       |
| 9.       | Sone Dam - Southern Tributaries of Ganga                    | Sone & Badua                       | Bihar & Jharkhand                                             | PFR completed                            |
| 10.      | Ganga(Farakka) - Damodar - Subernarekha link                | link Ganga, Damodar & Subernarekha | West Bengal, Odisha & Jharkhand                               | Draft FR completed                       |
| 11.      | Subernarekha - Mahanadi link                                | Subernarekha & Mahanadi            | West Bengal & Odisha                                          | Draft FR Completed                       |
| 12.      | Kosi- Mechi link                                            | Kosi &Mechi                        | Bihar , West Bengal & Nepal                                   | PFR completed Entirely lies in Nepal     |
| 13.      | Ganga (Farakka) - Sunderbans link                           | Ganga & Ichhamati                  | West Bengal                                                   | Draft FR completed                       |
| 14.      | Jogighopa -Tista - Farakka link (Alternative to M - S-T- G) | Manas, Tista Ganga                 | - do-                                                         | (Alternative to M - S-T- G Link) dropped |

- PFR -Pre  Feasibility Report
- FR -Feasibility Report
- DPR -Detailed Project Report