Lok Sabha Question No. 1520 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-13
Subject: Scheme to Connect Rivers
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Dr. Rajkumar Sangwan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1520

ANSWERED ON 13.02.2025

## SCHEME TO CONNECT RIVERS

## †1520. DR. RAJKUMAR SANGWAN

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether the scheme to connect rivers across the country is in its final stages;

(b) if so, the details thereof indicating the current status and implementation of the said scheme, State-wise along with the benefits to be provided to Bagpat in Uttar Pradesh under the same; and

(c) if not, the reasons for the delay in implementation of the said scheme?

## 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) for the Inter-linking of Rivers (ILR)  for  transferring  water  from  surplus  basins  to  deficit  basins/areas  in  1980.  National  Water  Development Agency (NWDA) has been entrusted with the work of Interlinking of Rivers under the NPP. 30 link projects have been identified under the NPP with two components, viz; Himalayan Component (14 ILR projects) and Peninsular Component (16 ILR projects). Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of 11 ILR projects, Feasibility Reports (FRs) of 26 ILR  projects,  and  Pre-Feasibility  Reports  (PFRs)  of  30  ILR  projects  have  been  completed. Latest  status  of  ILR Projects along with benefits of these projects to the various States including Uttar Pradesh is enclosed at Annexure .

The  Government  of  India  has  given  top  priority  to  the  ILR  programme  and  has  been  pursuing  the programme in a consultative manner. Concerted efforts have been made at various levels for consensus building amongst the party States for implementation of the matured ILR projects. A Special Committee on Interlinking of Rivers (SCILR) has been constituted in September, 2014 for the implementation of ILR programme. 21 meetings of the SCILR have been held so far. Further, a Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers (TFILR) has been constituted in April, 2015 and 20 meetings of the same have been held so far. States have wide representation and participation in these meetings, wherein concerted efforts are made for consensus building amongst the party States and for setting out road maps for implementation of the ILR projects. It is, however, for the party States to reach a consensus for implementation of an ILR project.

Ken-Betwa  link  project  (KBLP)  is  the  first  ILR  project  under  the  NPP,  implementation  of  which  has started after the party States reached a consensus and signed a Memorandum of Agreement for its implementation in  March, 2021 and subsequently the project got approved by the Government of India in December, 2021. The project is envisaged to provide an annual irrigation to an area of 10.62 lakh hectares (ha) including 8.11 lakh ha in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and 2.51 lakh ha in Uttar Pradesh (UP) . The project will also generate 103 Megawatt (MW) of hydropower and 27 MW of solar power. Initial focus is on land acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement.

***

## ANNEXURE

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1520 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 13.02.2025 REGARDING 'SCHEME TO CONNECT RIVERS'

## DETAILS OF BENEFITS FROM ILR PROJECTS UNDER THE NPP

## Peninsular Component

|   Sl. No | Name                                                                    | States benefited               | Annual Irrigation (Lakh ha)   | Domestic and Industrial (Million Cubic Metres (MCM)   | Hydro power (MW)   | Status              |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|---------------------|
|        1 | Mahanadi (Manibhadra) - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link                    | Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Odisha | 4.43                          | 802                                                   | 445                | FR completed        |
|        1 | Alternate Mahanadi (Barmul) - Rushikulya - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link | AP and Odisha                  | 6.25 (0.91 + 3.52 + 1.82*)    | 700 +125*                                             | 210 + 240*         | FR completed        |
|        2 | Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link @@                     | AP                             | 2.1                           | 162                                                   | --                 | FR completed        |
|        3 | a.)Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link               | Telangana                      | 2.87                          | 237                                                   | 975+ 70= 1045      | FR completed        |
|        3 | b.) Alternate Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link ** | Telangana                      | 2.38                          | 232                                                   | 26                 | DPR completed       |
|        4 | Godavari (Inchampalli/ SSMPP) - Krishna (Pulichintala) link             | Telangana and AP               | 4.74 (0.36+4.38)              | 346                                                   | 90                 | DPR completed       |
|        5 | a.) Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link                  | AP                             | 5.81                          | 124                                                   | 90                 | FR completed        |
|        5 | b.)Alternate Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link **      | AP                             | 1.71                          | 236                                                   | 40                 | DPR completed       |
|        6 | Krishna (Srisailam) - Pennar link                                       | AP                             | 1.79                          | 58                                                    | 11                 | Draft DPR completed |
|        7 | Krishna (Almatti) - Pennar link                                         | Karnataka                      | 0.69                          | 467                                                   |                    | Draft DPR completed |
|        7 |                                                                         | AP                             | 1.57                          | 29.83                                                 | --                 | Draft DPR completed |
|        8 | a. ) Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link                    | AP, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry  | 4.91 (0.49+ 4.36 +0.06)       | 1105                                                  | --                 | FR completed        |
|        8 | b. ) Alternate Pennar (Somasila)                                        | AP                             | 0.51                          | 43                                                    | --                 | FR completed        |
|        8 | -                                                                       | Tamil Nadu                     | 1.14                          | 618                                                   | --                 | DPR completed       |
|        8 | Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link **                                          | Puducherry                     | --                            | 62                                                    | --                 | FR completed        |
|        9 | Cauvery (Kattalai) - Vaigai -Gundar link                                | Tamil Nadu                     | 4.48                          | 218                                                   | --                 | DPR completed       |
|       10 | a) Parbati -Kalisindh- Chambal link                                     | Madhya Pradesh (MP)            | Alt.I 2.30                    | = - 13.2                                              | --                 | FR completed        |

|    |                                                                       | and Rajasthan                             | Alt.II = 2.20                                    |                                                                                      |                              |                                                 |
|----|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
|    | b)Modified Parbati Kalisindh-Chambal link (duly integrated with ERCP) | - MP and Rajasthan                        | 3.38 (as per draft PFR) MP - 2.58 Rajasthan- 0.8 | As per draft PFR: Rajasthan- Domestic-1723 MCM Industrial-286 MCM MP-Domestic-36 MCM | -                            | Draft PFR completed                             |
| 11 | Damanganga - Pinjal link                                              | Maharashtra (only water supply to Mumbai) | --                                               | 895                                                                                  | 5                            | DPR completed                                   |
| 12 | Par-Tapi-Narmada link                                                 | Gujarat                                   | 2.28                                             | 76                                                                                   | 21                           | DPR completed                                   |
| 12 | Par-Tapi-Narmada link                                                 | Maharashtra                               | 0.04                                             | --                                                                                   | --                           | DPR completed                                   |
| 13 | Ken-Betwa link                                                        | Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh     | 10.62 (2.51 +8.11)                               | 194                                                                                  | 103MW (Hydro) & 27MW (Solar) | DPR completed & project is under implementation |
| 14 | Pamba - Achankovil                                                    | - Tamil Nadu                              | 0.91                                             | --                                                                                   | 3.87                         | FR completed                                    |
| 14 | Vaippar link                                                          | Kerala                                    |                                                  |                                                                                      | 504.5                        | FR completed                                    |
| 15 | Bedti - Varda link@                                                   | Karnataka                                 | 1.05                                             | 38                                                                                   | ----                         | DPR completed                                   |
| 16 | Netravati - Hemavati link***                                          | Karnataka                                 | 0.34                                             | --                                                                                   | --                           | PFR completed                                   |

*   Benefit to Odisha from Six Projects of Govt. of Odisha

** 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 completed. Godavari-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. The report  was  further  updated  terminating  the  link  link  canal  at  Manimukhtanadi,  a  tributary  of  Vellar  river flowing adjacent of Cauvery basin.

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

@@ Godavari (Polavaram)- Krishna (Vijayawada) Link- the project has been taken up by Govt. of Andhra Pradesh.

*** 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.

Note: For PKC link at Serial no.10 (a): Alt  I-  Linking with GandhisagarDam,    Alt.  II-  Linking with Rana Pratapsagar Dam

## Himalayan Component

|   Sl. | NoName                                                  | States Countries benefited        | / Annual Irrigation (Lakh ha)   | Domestic Industrial (MCM)   | & Hydro power (MW)             | Status                                    |               |
|-------|---------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|---------------|
|     1 | Kosi-Mechi link                                         | Bihar Nepal                       | and 4.74 (2.99+1.75)            | 24                          | 3180                           | PFR completed                             | PFR completed |
|     2 | Kosi-Ghaghra link                                       | Bihar, and Nepal                  | UP 8.35 (6.05+1.20 +1.10)       | 0                           | --                             | FR completed                              | FR completed  |
|     3 | Gandak - Ganga link                                     | UP Nepal                          | and 34.58 (28.80+5.78)          | 700                         | 4375 (Dam PH) & 180 (Canal PH) | FR completed circulated                   | and           |
|     4 | Ghaghra - Yamuna link                                   | UP Nepal                          | and 27.84 (25.30 + 2.54)        | 1391                        | 10884                          | Draft completed                           | FR            |
|     5 | Sarda - Yamuna link                                     | UP and Uttarakhand                | 2.95 (2.65 + 0.30)              | 3054                        | 6620                           | FR completed                              | FR completed  |
|     6 | Yamuna-Rajasthan link                                   | Haryana and Rajasthan             | 2.51 (0.11+ 2.40)               | 30                          | --                             | FR completed                              | FR completed  |
|     7 | Rajasthan- Sabarmati link                               | Rajasthan and Gujarat             | 11.53 (11.21+0.32)              | 102                         | --                             | FR completed                              | FR completed  |
|     8 | Chunar-Sone Barrage link                                | Bihar and UP                      | 0.67 (0.13 + 0.54)              | --                          | --                             | Draft completed                           | FR            |
|     9 | Sone Dam - Southern Tributaries of Ganga link           | Bihar and Jharkhand               | 3.07 (2.39 + 0.68)              | 360                         | 95(90 Dam PH) &5(Canal PH)     | Draft completed                           | FR            |
|    10 | Manas-Sankosh- Tista-Ganga (M-S- T-G) link              | Assam, West Bengal (WB) and Bihar | 3.41 (2.05 + 1.00 + 0.36)       | --                          | --                             | FR completed                              | FR completed  |
|    11 | Jogighopa-Tista- Farakka link (Alternative to M- S-T-G) | Assam, WB and Bihar               | 3.559 (0.975+ 1.564+ 1.02)      | 265                         | 360                            | PFR completed (The proposal been dropped) | has           |
|    12 | Farakka- Sundarbans link                                | WB                                | 1.50                            | 184                         | --                             | FR completed                              | FR completed  |
|    13 | Ganga(Farakka) - Damodar- Subarnarekha link             | WB, Odisha and Jharkhand          | 12.30 (11.18+ 0.39+ 0.73)       | 432                         | --                             | FR completed                              | FR completed  |
|    14 | Subarnarekha- Mahanadi link                             | WB and Odisha                     | 2.16 (0.18+ 1.98)               | 198                         | 20                             | FR completed                              | FR completed  |

*****