Lok Sabha Question No. 2941 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-12
Subject: Inter-linking of Ganga and Cauvery Rivers
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Dr. Thirumaavalavan Tholkappiyan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2941

ANSWERED ON 12.12.2024

## INTER-LINKING OF GANGA AND CAUVERY RIVERS

## 2941. DR. THIRUMAAVALAVAN THOLKAPPIYAN

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has any scheme or proposal to interlink River Ganga with River Cauvery; and (b) if so, the details thereof along with the target date set for its commencement and completion?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## ( SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY )

(a)  to  (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 projects have been identified, which, inter alia, includes proposals for linking of rivers Manas, Sankosh, Tista, Ganga, Damodar, Subernarekha, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Pennar, Cauvery, Vaigai and Gundar. The Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga-Damodar-SubernarekhaMahanadi  linkage  system  envisages  to  provide  water  to  Mahanadi  and  thereafter,  the  MahanadiGodavari-Krishna-Pennar-Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar  linkage  system  system to provide water to the river Cauvery  and  further  down  South.  Details  and  status  of  the  ILR  Projects  under  the  NPP  is  given  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 a 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 river linking project.

Commencement of works of the ILR projects and their completion depend upon the party States reaching a consensus on issues like water sharing, routing of the interlink etc. and signing the project specific Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for implementation of the respective ILR projects.

***

## ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2941 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 12.12.2024 REGARDING 'INTER-LINKING OF GANGA AND CAUVERY RIVERS'.

## DETAILS AND STATUS OF THE 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                                  |

- **  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

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