Lok Sabha Question No. 1835 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-05
Subject: Interlinking of Major Rivers
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri T R Baalu

## 1835.    SHRI T R BAALU

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  has  any  proposal  for  interlinking  the  major  rivers,  viz,  Brahmaputra,  Ganga, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the time by which the project works are expected to be commenced in this regard;

(d) whether the Government proposes to include this project in the PM Gati Shakti Master Plan; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1835

ANSWERED ON 05.12.2024

## INTERLINKING OF MAJOR RIVERS

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## ( SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY )

(a) & (b) The Government of India formulated a National Perspective Plan (NPP) for the Interlinking of Rivers  for  transferring  water  from  surplus  basins  to  deficit  basins/areas  in  1980.  The  National  Water Development Agency (NWDA) has been entrusted with the work of the Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) under the NPP. Under the NPP, 30 ILR perojects have been identified, which, inter alia, includes proposals for linking of rivers Manas  (a sub basin of Brahmaputra  basin), Sankosh, Tista,  Ganga,  Damodar, Subernarekha, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Pennar, Cauvery, Vaigai and Gundar. The  Manas-SankoshTista-Ganga-Damodar-Subernarekha-Mahanadi linkage system envisages to provide water to Mahanadi and thereafter, the Mahanadi-Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar  linkage system system to provide  water  to  the  down  South.  Detailed  status  of  ILR  Projects  under  the  NPP  are  enclosed  in the Annexure .

Pending consensus on the Mahandi-Godavari link and the upper links, about 4189 Million Cubic Meters (MCM) of unutilised waters of the Indravati sub-basin of Chhattisgarh State has been envisaged to be diverted through the Godavari (Inchampalli)-Cauvery link, for providing irrigation benefits to about 5.74 lakh ha area in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu States including supplementation of existing commands.  The enroute demands  of  domestic  &  industrial  needs  of  these  three  States  including  the domestic and industrial needs  of  the  Malaprabha  sub-basin  in  Karnataka  and  Puducherry  have  also  been considered in the project. The Detailed Project Report for the link project has been prepared and circulated in January, 2024. Based upon the requests received from the party States in various consultation meetings

held  to  bring  them  to  consensus,  the  proposal  for  transfer  of  4189  MCM  from  Godavari  basin  has  been combined with the proposal for supplementation in the Krishna basin through Bedti-Varda link. Concerted efforts have been made by the Government of India in consultation with the Party States to bring them to consensus. It is, however, for the party States to reach a consensus for implementation of the link project.

(c) The time by which works of the above ILR projects are expected to be commenced depends upon the party States to reach a consensus for implementation of the respective projects.

(d)  & (e) There is no such proposal.

***

## ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1835  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  05.12.2024  REGARDING  'INTERLINKING  OF MAJOR 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) 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                                | 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                       | 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) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link project was completed. Godavari-Cauvery link project has been prepared comprising of Godavari (Inchampalli) -Krishna (Nagarjunasagar), Krishna (Nagarjunasagar)- Pennar (Somasila) and Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link projects.
- **  Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link - The project has been taken up by Govt. of Andhra Pradesh.
- @   Bedti - Varda link - DPR was prepared directly after preparation of its PFR, no FR was prepared.
- @@  Further  studies  are  not  taken  up  since  after  implementation  of  Yettinahole  project  by  Govt.  of Karnataka, as no surplus water is available in Netravati basin for diversion through this link.

## Himalayan Component

|   Sl. No. | Name of the Link                                      | Country/ States 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 (The proposal has been dropped) |
|        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                                  |

DPR - Detailed Project Report

PFR- Pre Feasibility Report

FR- Feasibility Report

*****