Lok Sabha Question No. 873 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-24
Subject: Inter-linking of Rivers
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Kaushalendra Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 873

## ANSWERED ON 24.07.2025

## INTER-LINKING OF RIVERS

## †873.  SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) the present status of the Government's ambitious project to inter-link rivers in the country;

(b) whether it is a fact that on the one hand the north Bihar experiences devastating floods while on the other hand the south Bihar has to endure drought every year and if so, the details thereof; and

(c)  the  concrete  efforts  made/being  made  by  the  Government  in  this  direction  to  check  the  devastation caused by floods every year due to delay in the inter-linking of rivers?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## ( SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY )

(a) 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  of  the  country  .  National  Water Development Agency (NWDA) has been entrusted with the work of Interlinking of Rivers under the NPP. 30 ILR projects have been identified under the NPP with two components, viz; Himalayan Component (14 projects)  and  Peninsular  Component  (16  projects).  Detailed  Projects  Reports  (DPRs)  of  11  link  projects, Feasibility Reports (FRs) of 26 link projects and Pre-Feasibility Reports (PFRs) of 30 link projects have been completed.

Details of the status of ILR projects under the NPP are given at Annexure .

Ken-Betwa Link project (KBLP): KBLP is the first link of NPP that is under implementation. The Govt. of India has approved the implementation of KBLP in December, 2021 with an estimated cost of Rs. 44,605 crore (year 2020-21 price level) with central support of Rs. 39,317 crore through a Special Purpose Vehicle viz. Ken Betwa Link Project Authority (KBLPA). Work for the main component of the project i.e. Daudhan dam has been awarded. A Project Management Consultant has been hired for assisting KBLPA for implementation of project.

(b)  &  (c) As  per  information  provided  by  the  Government  of  Bihar,  Bihar  State  is  prone  to  floods. Predominantly,  Northern  Bihar  gets  affected  by  floods  every  year  due  to  heavy  rainfall  in  the  upper catchment areas, which mainly lie in Nepal. Whereas Southern Bihar faces problem of flash flood as well as drought.

The link projects under the NPP are judiciously planned and designed to, wherever possible, transfer water  from  surplus  basins  to  the  deficit/water  short  basins  and  thus,  mitigating  the  effects  of  floods  and droughts to some extent. The flood water from flood prone/water surplus river basins would be diverted to water deficit regions and would also recharge ground water table, tanks and canals in the command areas.

Further, the Flood management and anti-erosion schemes are planned and executed by the respective State Governments  based  on  their  priorities.  To  support  these  efforts,  the  Union  Government  provides  both technical guidance and promotional financial assistance for managing floods in critical areas.

In  order  to  strengthen  structural  flood  management measures, the Union Government implemented the  Flood  Management  Programme  (FMP)  during  the  XI  and  XII  Five  Year  Plans,  offering  central assistance to States for works related to flood control, anti-erosion, drainage improvement, and protection against sea erosion. This initiative was subsequently continued as a component of the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP) during the period 2017-18 to 2020-21, and was further extended up to 2026 with a limited financial outlay.

Under  the  FMP  component  of  FMBAP,  a  total  of  48  flood  management  projects-estimated  at ₹1866.50  crore-have  been  included  for  implementation,  out  of  which  central  assistance  amounting  to ₹924.40 crore has been released to the Government of Bihar.

Further,  the  Ministry  of  Jal  Shakti  has  advised  all  the  States  including  Bihar  to  adopt  ans  enforce flood plain zoning as a non structural measure to mitigate damage caused by floods.

***

## ANNEXURE

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 873 ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 24.07.2025 REGARDING 'INTER-LINKING OF RIVERS'.

## Details and current status of ILR projects under the NPP

## Peninsular Components

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

* Due  to  pending  consensus  on  Manibhadra  and  Inchampalli  dams,  Alternate  study  to  divert  unutilized waters  of  Godavari  River  was  carried  out  and  DPR  of  Godavari  (Inchampalli/  Janampet)  -  Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link projects were completed. GodavariCauvery (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 Government of Karnataka, no surplus water is available in Netravati basin for diversion through this link.

@ Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link - The project has been taken up by Government of Andhra Pradesh.

@@ Bedti - Varda link - DPR was prepared directly after preparation of its PFR, no FR was prepared.

## Himalayan Component

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

*****