Lok Sabha Question No. 529 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-25
Subject: Inter-linking of Rivers
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Dileshwar Kamait

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

## DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 529

ANSWERED ON 25.07.2024

## INTER-LINKING OF RIVERS

## †529. SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  is  considering  interlinking  of  rivers  under  the  National  Perspective  Plan  (NPP) including the Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga (MSTG) link project;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the present status of the implementation works of Kosi-Mechi interlinking project in Bihar; and

(d) the time by which Kosi-Mechi interlinking project is likely to be completed and the reasons for its delay, if any?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## ( SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY )

(a) & (b) The Government of India has formulated a National Perspective Plan (NPP) for Inter-linking  of  Rivers  (ILR)  for  transferring  water  from  surplus  basins  to  deficit  basins/areas  in  1980.  National Water  Development  Agency  (NWDA)  has  identified  30  links  (16  under  Peninsular  Component  and  14  under Himalayan  Component)  under  the  NPP,  out  of  which,  Detailed  Project  Reports  (DPRs)  of  11  link  projects, Feasibility Reports (FRs) of 24 link projects and Pre-Feasibility Reports (PFRs) of all the 30 link projects have been completed. The status of ILR projects is attached as Annexure .

The  Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga  (MSTG)  link  project  is  one  of  the  link  projects  under  the  Himalayan Component. FR of the MSTG link project has been completed. This link project envisages diversion of surplus water from tributaries of river Brahmaputra i.e., river Manas, Sankosh, Aie, Raidak, Torsa and Jaldhaka to the Ganga River and transfer through the Ganga-Damodar-Subernarekha and the Subernarekha-Mahanadi links and further towards south to supplement the identified eight-link system under the Peninsular Component of the NPP.

(c) & (d) The PFR of the Kosi-Mechi ILR project  under the Himalayan Component of the NPP was completed in the year 1997. In 2014, on the request of the Government of Bihar, NWDA prepared the DPR of the Kosi-Mechi intra-State link project. Various statutory and other necessary clearances have been subsequently obtained for the project  by  the  Government  of  Bihar.  The  cost  of  project  has  been  estimated  as  ₹6,282.32  crore  at  2022-23  price level, with a Benefit-Cost ratio of 2.23, as approved by the Technical Advisory Committee of the Department of Water  Resources,  River  Development  &  Ganga  Rejuvenation.  Investment  clearance  to  the  project  has  also  been accorded by the Investment Clearance Committee (ICC).

As  an  intra-State  project,  the  implementation  of  the  Kosi-Mechi  intra-State  link  project  comes  under  the purview of the Government of Bihar.

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 529 TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  25.07.2024  REGARDING  'INTER-LINKING  OF RIVERS'.

## Status of ILR projects under the NPP Peninsular Component

|   Sl. No | Name                                                                       | States benefited                          | Status                                         |
|----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | a. Mahanadi (Manibhadra) - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link                    | Andhra Pradesh (AP) & Odisha              | FR completed                                   |
|        1 | b. Alternate Mahanadi (Barmul) - Rushikulya - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link | AP& Odisha                                | FR completed                                   |
|        2 | Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link                           | AP                                        | FR completed                                   |
|        3 | a. Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link                  | Telangana                                 | FR completed                                   |
|        3 | b. Alternate Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link *      | Telangana                                 | DPR completed                                  |
|        4 | Godavari (Inchampalli/ SSMPP) - Krishna (Pulichintala) link                | Telangana &AP                             | DPR completed                                  |
|        5 | a. Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link                      | AP                                        | FR completed                                   |
|        5 | b. Alternate Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link *          | AP                                        | DPR completed                                  |
|        6 | Krishna (Srisailam) - Pennar link                                          | AP                                        | Draft DPR completed                            |
|        7 | Krishna (Almatti) - Pennar link                                            | AP &Karnataka                             | Draft DPR completed                            |
|        8 | a. Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link                         | AP, Tamil Nadu& Puducherry                | FR completed                                   |
|        8 | b. Alternate Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link *             | AP, Tamil Nadu& Puducherry                | DPR completed                                  |
|        9 | Cauvery (Kattalai) - Vaigai -Gundar link                                   | Tamil Nadu                                | DPR completed                                  |
|       10 | a. Parbati -Kalisindh - Chambal link                                       | Madhya Pradesh (MP)& Rajasthan            | FR completed                                   |
|       10 | b) Modified Parbati - Kalisindh-Chambal link (duly integrated with ERCP)   | MP &Rajasthan                             | Draft PFR completed                            |
|       11 | Damanganga - Pinjal link (As per DPR )                                     | Maharashtra (only water supply to Mumbai) | DPR completed                                  |
|       12 | Par-Tapi-Narmada link (As per DPR)                                         | Gujarat &Maharashtra                      | DPR completed                                  |
|       13 | Ken-Betwa link                                                             | Uttar Pradesh &Madhya Pradesh             | DPR completed& project is under implementation |
|       14 | Pamba - Achankovil - Vaippar link                                          | Tamil Nadu &Kerala                        | FR completed                                   |
|       15 | Bedti - Varda link                                                         | Karnataka                                 | DPR completed                                  |
|       16 | Netravati - Hemavati link**                                                | Karnataka                                 | PFR completed                                  |

Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link project has been prepared comprising of Godavari (Inchampalli / Janampet) Krishna (Nagarjunasagar), Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) -Pennar (Somasila) and Pennar(Somasila)Cauvery(Grand Anicut) link projects.

- ** Further studies are not taken up since after implementation of Yettinahole project by Govt. of Karnataka, no surplus water is available in Netravati basin for diversion through this link.

## Himalayan Component

|   Sl. No | Name                                                  | States / Countriesbenefited      | Status                                        |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Kosi-Mechi link                                       | Bihar &Nepal                     | PFR completed                                 |
|        2 | Kosi-Ghaghra link                                     | Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (UP) &Nepal | FR completed                                  |
|        3 | Gandak - Ganga link                                   | UP &Nepal                        | FR completed and circulated                   |
|        4 | Ghaghra - Yamuna link                                 | UP &Nepal                        | Draft FR completed                            |
|        5 | Sarda - Yamuna link                                   | UP &Uttarakhand                  | FR completed                                  |
|        6 | Yamuna-Rajasthan link                                 | Haryana &Rajasthan               | FR completed                                  |
|        7 | Rajasthan-Sabarmati link                              | Rajasthan &Gujarat               | FR completed                                  |
|        8 | Chunar-Sone Barrage link                              | Bihar &UP                        | Draft FR completed                            |
|        9 | Sone Dam - Southern Tributaries of Ganga link         | Bihar &Jharkhand                 | Draft FR completed                            |
|       10 | Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga (M-S-T-G) link              | Assam, West Bengal (WB) &Bihar   | FR completed                                  |
|       11 | Jogighopa-Tista-Farakka link (Alternative to M-S-T-G) | Assam, WB&Bihar                  | PFR completed (The proposal has been dropped) |
|       12 | Farakka-Sundarbans link                               | WB                               | FR completed                                  |
|       13 | Ganga(Farakka) - Damodar- Subarnarekha link           | WB, Odisha &Jharkhand            | FR completed                                  |
|       14 | Subarnarekha-Mahanadi link                            | WB&Odisha                        | FR completed                                  |

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