Lok Sabha Question No. 62 (STARRED), answered on 2017-07-20
Subject: Ken-Betwa River Link Project
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: AJAY (TENI) MISRA

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. †*62

ANSWERED ON 20 .0 7.201 7

## KEN - BETWA RIVER LINK PRO JECT

## †*62. SHRI AJAY MISRA TENI

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

- (a) whether the Government has started the work relating to inter - linking of Ken and Betwa rivers in the Bundelkhand region so that the region gets rid of drought and if so, the details t ;
- (b) the details of the progress made in regard to the said project during the last three
- (c) the approximate hectare area of land turned barren due to lack of irrigation in B region of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh during the said pe riod; and
- (d) the number of dams to be constructed by the Government in Bundelkhand region unde Ken - Betwa river link project including the number of districts in which it is planned irrigation facilities along with the time by which the said project is likely to be completed?

## ANSWER

THE  MINISTER  OF STATE  FOR WATER  RESOURCES,  RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND GANGA REJUVENATION

(DR. SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN )

(a) to (d ) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  to  (d)  OF  STARRED QUESTION  NO.  *62  TO  BE ANSWERED  ON  20.07.2017  REGARDING  KEN - BETWA RIVER LINK PROJECT.

(a)to  (d) The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of Writ Petition (Civil) No. 512 of 2002 'In Re: Networking of Rivers' along with Writ Petition (Civil) No. 668 of 2002 ordered that the Ken -Betwa River Link Project be taken up for implementation in the first instance.

On  the  basis  of  Memorandum  of  Understanding  signed  between  the  States  of  Madhy Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh dated 25.8.2005, Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of KBLP Phase -I & II have been prepared and shared with the concerned States of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pr The Project has already received the following mandatory clearances:

1. Techno-economic clearance has been accorded by the Advisory Committee on Irrigati Flood C ontrol & Multipurpose Projects of Ministry of Water Resources, RD & GR in meeting held on 8 th July, 2016.
2. The MoEF&CC issued wildlife clearance on 21 st September, 2016.
3. Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of MoEF&CC considered environment clearance in its first  meeting  held  on  30 th December,  2016  and  recommended  the  project  for  grant  of environmental clearance.
4. On  the  basis  of  recommendations  of  the  Forest  Advisory  Committee  (FAC),  Centr Government has granted the approval of Stage -I Forest Clearance for KBLP Phase - I vide MoEF&CC letter dated 25 th May, 2017.
5. Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has examined the case and accorded the clearance their letter dated 4 th January, 2017.
6. The  project  proposal  of  KBLP  has  been  recommended  by  the  Investment  C learance Committee of the Ministry in its 5 th meeting held on 10th February, 2017 and the same has been considered acceptable for investment in the State Plan with an estimated cos 18057.08 crore at Price Level 2015 - 16.

The KBLP will provide irri gation to an area of 6,35,661 ha annually (3,69,881 ha in MP 2,65,780  ha  in  UP)  in  the  Chhattarpur,  Tikamgarh  and  Panna  districts  of  Madhya  Prades Mahoba, Banda, Lalitpur & Jhansi districts of Uttar Pradesh. In addition, the project w 49 million cubic meter (MCM) of water for enroute drinking water supply to population o lakh of UP & MP.  The project will also generate 78 MW of power. The total construction of the Project is about 8 years. A Draft Cabinet Note for implement ation has been circulated on 30 th May, 2017 to concerned Ministries/Departments for their comments/views.

This Project was reviewed at a high level and it was decided that Ken - Betwa Link Project (KBLP) should be taken up forimplementation thr ough an SPV consisting of NHPC and

representatives of Governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

The status of the Project was further reviewed at a high level on 04.07.2017 wi Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh and Principal Secretary, Irrigation Department, Uttar The Government of Madhya Pradesh has proposed that Kotha Barrage, Bina Complex and Lower Orr Dam be also included in the Project. Their status is as under:

| Project                | Status                                                                                        |
|------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Lower Orr              | DPR of lower Orr Dam submitted to CWC for appraisal July, 2017 - Under examination in CWC     |
| Bina Complex           | DPR is under appraisal in CWC. The compliance to observations is yet to be submitted by GoMP. |
| Kotha Barrage          | DPR of Kotha Barrage has been submitted to CWC for in March, 2017 - Under examination in CWC. |
| Left out areas phase 1 | in The proposal is being prepared and will be submitted appraisal by 31.7.2017.               |

This would also affect the initial allocation of water between the two States as p agreement.    It  was  therefore,  decided  that  both  the  State  Governments  should work  out  an agreement on mutual water sharing to take KBLP forward. The implementation of KBLP would taken up once the two States have reached an agreement on water sharing.

No  area  of  land  turned  barren  due  to  lack  of  irrigation  in  Bundelkhand  region of  Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh during period has been reported to the Ministry.

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