Lok Sabha Question No. 4547 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-27
Subject: Linking of Rivers in Maharashtra
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Anil Yeshwant Desai

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4547

ANSWERED ON 27.03.2025

## LINKING OF RIVERS IN MAHARASHTRA

## 4547. SHRI ANIL YESHWANT DESAI

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  Government  is  working  on  linking  of  various  rivers  to  regulate  water distribution in order to save the countrymen from flood and famine in various parts of the country;

(b) if so, the details of the major rivers that are scheduled to be linked with each other in the country, Statewise, particularly in Maharashtra;

(c) whether there is any timeline scheduled to complete this mega task and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the details of the funds allocated for the same including that from the World Bank?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## ( SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY )

(a) to (c) The Government of India formulated a National Perspective Plan (NPP) in the year 1980. The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has been entrusted with the work of Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) under the NPP. These link projects under the NPP have been planned judicially and are envisaged to provide for storage and transfer of water from the water-surplus basins to the water-deficit basins/ regions to minimize the miseries brought by droughts and also to mitigate the ravages of annually recurring floods.

Under  the  NPP,  30  link  projects  have  been  identified,  16  link  projects  under  the  Peninsular component  and  14  link  projects  under  the  Himalayan  component.  Out  of  these  30  link  projects,  PreFeasibility  Reports  (PFRs)  of  all  the  30  link  projects,  Feasibility  Reports  (FRs)  of  26  link  projects and Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of 11 link projects have been completed. The details and present status of the all link projects, including those benefiting the State of Maharashtra and also indicating therein the major rivers to be linked through the respective link projects, are given at Annexure-I.

Five projects have been identified as the Priority link projects, viz; Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP), GodavariCauvery (GC) Link [comprising 3 links, namely, Godavari (Inchampalli)-Krishna (Nagarjunasagar)  link,  Krishna  (Nagarjunasagar)-Pennar  (Somasila)  link  and  Pennar  (Somasila)-Cauvery link] and the modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal Link Project.

The Government of India is keenly pursuing the ILR programme in a consultative manner and has accorded top priority to it. Concerted efforts at various levels have been made to build necessary consensus amongst  the  party  States,  for  implementation  of  various  ILR  projects.  A  'Special  Committee  on  Inter-

linking of Rivers' has been constituted in September, 2014 for the implementation of ILR programme. 21 meetings of the Special Committee have been held so far. Further, a Task Force for Inter-linking of Rivers has been constituted in April, 2015 for expediting the works under the ILR programme and 18 meetings of this  Task  Force  have  been  held  so  far.  States  have  wide  representation  and  active  participation  in  these meetings.

The KBLP is the first and only inter linking river project under the NPP, of which the implementation has already started. Subsequent to the party States arriving at a consensus and signing a Memorandum of Agreement  (MoA)  for  implementation  of  this  link  project,  the  Union  Cabinet  approved  the  proposal,  in December, 2021, for implementation of the project at an estimated cost of Rs. 44,605 crore, with a Central Support of Rs. 39,317 crore. The project is scheduled to be completed by March, 2030.

For other ILR projects under the NPP, the schedule of completion cannot be deduced as this depends upon the party States arriving at a consensus for their respective link projects and signing the link specific MoAs for their implementation.

(d) Details  of  Budget Allocation by the Government of India for the KBLP, implementation of which started after approval by the Union Cabinet in December, 2021, is given at Annexure-II . No funding from the World Bank is there for the ILR projects.

***

## ANNEXURE-I

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4547 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 27.03.2025 REGARDING 'LINKING OF RIVERS IN MAHARASHTRA'

## Details and Current Status of ILR projects under the NPP

## Peninsular Components

|   Sl. No | Name                                                                       | States benefited                  | Status                                          | Major rivers                                                                            |
|----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | a. Mahanadi (Manibhadra) - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link                    | Andhra Pradesh (AP)and Odisha     | FR completed                                    | Mahanadi and Godavari                                                                   |
|        1 | b. Alternate Mahanadi (Barmul) - Rushikulya - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link | AP and Odisha                     | FR completed                                    | Mahanadi and Godavari                                                                   |
|        2 | Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link@                          | AP                                | FR completed                                    | Godavari and Krishna                                                                    |
|        3 | a. Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link                  | Telangana                         | FR completed                                    | Godavari and Krishna                                                                    |
|        3 | b. Alternate Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link *      | Telangana                         | DPR completed                                   | Godavari and Krishna                                                                    |
|        4 | Godavari (Inchampalli/ SSMPP) - Krishna (Pulichintala) link                | Telangana and AP                  | DPR completed                                   | Godavari and Krishna                                                                    |
|        5 | a. Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link                      | AP                                | FR completed                                    | Krishna and Pennar                                                                      |
|        5 | b. Alternate Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link *          | AP                                | DPR completed                                   | Krishna and Pennar                                                                      |
|        6 | Krishna (Srisailam) - Pennar link                                          | AP                                | Draft DPR completed                             | Krishna and Pennar                                                                      |
|        7 | Krishna (Almatti) - Pennar link                                            | AP and Karnataka                  | Draft DPR completed                             | Krishna and Pennar                                                                      |
|        8 | a. Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link                         | AP, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry     | FR completed                                    | Pennar, Palar and Cauvery                                                               |
|        8 | b. Alternate Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link *             | AP, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry     | DPR completed                                   | Pennar, Palar and Cauvery                                                               |
|        9 | Cauvery (Kattalai) - Vaigai -Gundar link                                   | Tamil Nadu                        | DPR completed                                   | Cauvery, Vaigai and Gundar                                                              |
|       10 | a. Parbati -Kalisindh - Chambal link                                       | Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Rajasthan | FR completed                                    | Parbati, Kalisindhand Chambal                                                           |
|       10 | b. Modified Parbati - Kalisindh- Chambal link (duly integrated with ERCP)  | MP and Rajasthan                  | Draft PFR completed                             | Parbati, Kalisindh, Chambal, Kul, Banas, Mej, Kuno, Chamla, Shipra, Lakhunder and Newaj |
|       11 | Damanganga - Pinjal link                                                   | Maharashtra                       | DPR completed                                   | Damanganga, Pinjal                                                                      |
|       12 | Par-Tapi-Narmada link                                                      | Gujarat and Maharashtra           | DPR completed                                   | Par, Tapi and Narmada                                                                   |
|       13 | Ken-Betwa link                                                             | Uttar Pradesh (UP) and MP         | DPR completed & project is under implementation | Ken and Betwa                                                                           |

|   14 | Pamba - Achankovil - Vaippar link   | Tamil Nadu and Kerala FR completed   | Pamba, Achankovil and Vaippar   |
|------|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|   15 | Bedti - Varda link@@                | Karnataka DPR completed              | Bedti and Varda                 |
|   16 | Netravati - Hemavati link**         | Karnataka PFR completed              | Netravati and Hemavati          |

*  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 was 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 Govt. 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. | NoName                                                | States/Countries benefited        | Status                                        | Major Rivers                               |
|-------|-------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
|     1 | Kosi-Mechi link                                       | Bihar and Nepal                   | PFR completed                                 | Kosi and Mechi                             |
|     2 | Kosi-Ghaghra link                                     | Bihar, UP and Nepal               | FR completed                                  | Kosi and Ghaghra                           |
|     3 | Gandak - Ganga link                                   | UP and Nepal                      | FR completed                                  | Gandak and Ganga                           |
|     4 | Ghaghra - Yamuna link                                 | UP and Nepal                      | Draft FR completed                            | Ghaghra and Yamuna                         |
|     5 | Sarda - Yamuna link                                   | UP and Uttarakhand                | FR completed                                  | Sarda and Yamuna                           |
|     6 | Yamuna-Rajasthan link                                 | Haryana and Rajasthan             | FR completed                                  | Yamuna                                     |
|     7 | Rajasthan-Sabarmati link                              | Rajasthan and Gujarat             | FR completed                                  | Sabarmati                                  |
|     8 | Chunar-Sone Barrage link                              | Bihar and UP                      | Draft FR completed                            | Ganga and Sone                             |
|     9 | Sone Dam - Southern Tributaries of Ganga link         | Bihar and Jharkhand               | Draft FR completed                            | Sone                                       |
|    10 | Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga (M-S-T-G) link              | Assam, West Bengal (WB) and Bihar | FR completed                                  | Manas, Sankosh, Tista, Mahananda and Ganga |
|    11 | Jogighopa-Tista-Farakka link (Alternative to M-S-T-G) | Assam, WBand Bihar                | PFR completed (The proposal has been dropped) | The proposal has been dropped              |
|    12 | Farakka-Sundarbans link                               | WB                                | FR completed                                  | Ganga, Hooghly and Bidyadhari              |
|    13 | Ganga(Farakka) - Damodar- Subarnarekha link           | WB, Odisha and Jharkhand          | FR completed                                  | Ganga, Damodar and Subernarekha            |
|    14 | Subarnarekha-Mahanadi link                            | WBand Odisha                      | FR completed                                  | Subernarekha and Mahanadi                  |

## ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4547 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 27.03.2025 REGARDING 'LINKING OF RIVERS IN MAHARASHTRA'

## Budget allocated for KBLP

| Year    |   Budget allocated (in crore) |
|---------|-------------------------------|
| 2021-22 |                       4644.46 |
| 2022-23 |                       1400    |
| 2023-24 |                       3500    |
| 2024-25 |                       4000    |
| 2025-26 |                       2400    |

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