Lok Sabha Question No. 706 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-20
Subject: Inter-linking of Rivers
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: SADASHIV KISAN LOKHANDE

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

## LOK SABHA UN STARRED QUESTION NO. †706

ANSWERED ON 20 .0 7.201 7

## INTER - LINKING OF RIVERS

## †706. SHRI SADASHIV LOKHANDE

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

(a)  whether  the  Government  has  or  proposes  to  set - up  an  expert  committee  including  a  panel  of engineers to formulate a scheme for inter - linking of rivers, p oper utilisation of water and to contr frequent floods in the country, if so, the details thereof; and

(b) the steps taken to control frequent floods, for inter - linking of rivers and to maximise the utilisat of irrigation capacity of rivers by Nat ional Water Development Agency as on date along with the lat status/position in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  WATER  RESOURCES,  RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND GANGA REJUVENATION (DR. SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN)

(a) In order to speed up the implementation of Inter - linking of River (ILR) Programme and to arrive at  a  consensus  on  the  link  proposals  between  the  States,  a  'Special  Committee  for  Interlinking  of Rivers',  has  been  constituted  by  this  Ministry  in  September,  2 014. Twelve meetings of the Special Committee  for  ILR  have  been  held  so  far  (last  meeting  held  on  March  08,  2017  at  New wherein  State  Irrigation/  Water  Resources  Ministers  along  with  the  Secretaries  of  var attended the meetings. The Spec ial Committee on ILR take into consideration all suggestions/observations of the stakeholders while planning and formulating the ILR projec

t

In the first meeting of the Special Committee for ILR held on 17.10.2014, it was constitute four specific sub - committees.

## i) Sub - committee  for  comprehensive  evaluation  of  various  studies/reports (SubCommittee -I)

Seven meetings of Sub - committee - I have been held so far. The last meeting was held on 26.07.20

- ii) Sub - Committee for system stud ies for identifications of most appropriate alternate pl (Sub- Committee -II)

Ten meetings of Sub - committee - II have been held so far. The last meeting was held on 03.03.201

## iii) Sub - Committee  for  Restructuring  of  National  Water  Development  Agency  (Sub -committee -III)

Sub- committee -III has completed the assigned task   and submitted its report to the M Water Resources, RD&GR on 21.09.2015.

## iv) Sub - committee for  consensus  building  through  negotiations  and  arriving  at  agreemen between concerned States (Sub - committee -IV)

Two  meetings  of  Sub - committee -IV  have  been  held  so  far  and  the  last  meeting  was  held 30.10.2015.

## Constitution of Task Force for Inter linking of Rivers (2015)

The  Union  Cabinet  while  approving  the  constitution  of  Special  Committee  for  ILR meeting held on 24 th July, 2014 directed that a committee comprising of experts be constituted into the issues relating to inter linking of rivers. In compliance to the direction of MoWR, RD & GR vide O.M. dated 13th 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. Task  Force  assists  the  Special  Committee  for  ILR  and  MoWR,  RD  &  GR  regarding  t implementation of ILR Programme.

Seven  meetings  of  the  Ta sk  Force  have  been  held  so  far  and  last  meeting  was  held 11.05.2017.

(b) Under  the  National  Perspective  Plan  (NPP)  for  water  resources  development  through basin transfer of water prepared by this Ministry, National Water Development Agency (NWD has identified  30  links  (16  under  Peninsular  Component  &  14  under  Himalayan  Component) preparation  of  Feasibility  Reports  (FRs).  After  survey  and  investigations,  FRs  of  14 Peninsular Component and 2 links in the Himalayan component have be en prepared. Present status, States concerned and States benefited of Inter Basin Water Transfer Links are given in Annexure .

Based on the concurrence of concerned states four priority links for preparation Project Reports (DPRs) have been identified viz; Ken - Betwa link project Phase -I & II, Damanganga -Pinjal link, Par - Tapi - Narmada link and Mahanadi - Godavari link. The DPRs of Ken- Betwa Phase I & II, Daman - Ganga- Pinjal, Par - Tapi - Narmada have been prepared and shared with the respective Stat Further,  various  Statutory  Clearances  have  been  obtained  for  KBLP  Phase -I.  The  Ken -Betwa  link project was declared as National P roject in 2008. The project will benefit the drought prone ar Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Further, the techno - economic clearance to the Damanganga - Pinjal link project has also been accorded  subject  to  statutory  clearanc es.  The  DPR  of  Par - Tapi - Narmada  has  been  submitted  for technical appraisal in Central Water Commission. The DPR of the Mahanadi -Godavari link could not be taken up as the Government of Odisha was not agreeable for Mahanadi -Godavari link, a mother link of  9  link  system  viz.,  Mahanadi -Godavari -Krishna -Pennar -Palar -Cauvery -Vaigai -Gundar  linkage  due  to  large  submergence  involved  in  Manibhadra  Dam.  Based  on suggestions  of  WRD,  Govt.  of  Odisha,  NWDA  has  prepared  a  preliminary  revised  proposa l  of Mahanadi- Godavari  Link  Project  with  reduced  submergence  and  submitted  to  the  State  Gov Odisha.

*****

Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of Unstarred Question No. 706 to be answered in Lo 20.07.2017 regarding 'Inter - Lin king Of Rivers' .

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

| Sl. No              | Name                                                  | Rivers                       | States concerned                                                                                   | Status                              |
|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| 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 (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 Ganga link            | of Sone & Badua              | Bihar & Jharkhand                                                                                  | PFR completed.                      |
| 10.                 | Ganga(Farakka) - Damodar - Subernarekha 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 completedEntirely lies in Nepal |
| 13.                 | Ganga (Farakka) - Sunderbans link                     | Ganga & Ichhamati            | West Bengal                                                                                        | Draft FR completed                  |
| 14.                 | Jogighopa - Tista - Farakka link                      | Manas, Tista                 | do-                                                                                                | (Alternative to M - S-T-G           |
|                     | (Alternative to M - S-T-G)                            | & Ganga                      | -                                                                                                  | Link) dropped                       |

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