INTERLINKING RIVER PROJECT
The interlinking of rivers has two components: the Himalayan
component and a Peninsular one. All interlinking
schemes are aimed at transferring of water from one river
system to another or by lifting across natural basins. The project
will build 30 links and some 3000 storages to connect
37 Himalayan and Peninsular rivers to form a gigantic South
Asian water grid. The canals, planned to be 50 to 100 meters
wide and more than 6 meters deep, would facilitate navigation.
The estimates of key project variables - still in the nature
of back-of-the-envelope calculations - suggest it will cost
around US $ 123 billion (or Indian Rs 560,000 crores, at 2002
prices), handle 178 km of inter-basin water transfer/per year,
build 12,500 km of canals, create 35 giga watt of hydropower
capacity, add 35 million hectares to India’s irrigated areas,
and create an unknown volume of navigation and fishery
benefits.
Similarly, 3700 mega watt would be required to lift water
across major watershed ridges by up to 116 meters. The
Fig. 2. River Links under the National Perspective Plan. Source: National Water Development Agency. majority of observers agree that the Project may not be in
operation even by 2050.
1. Major advantages of ILR
• Create the potential to increase agricultural production
by an additional 100 per cent over the next five years;
• Avoid the losses of the type that occurred in 2002 to the
extent of $550 million by the loss of crops because of extreme
draught or flood condition;
• Save $ 565215000 a year in foreign exchange by avoiding
importing oil;
• Unify the country by involving every Panchayat as a share
holder and implement agency;
• Provide for enhancing the security of the country by an
additional waterline of defense;
• Provide employment to the 10 lakh people for the next
10 years;
• Eradicate the flooding problems which recur in the northeast
and the north every year;
• Solve the water crisis situation by providing alternative,
perennial water resources;
• The large canals linking the rivers are also expected to facilitate
inland navigation too;
• Increasing food production from about 200m tones a
year to 500m;
• Boost the annual average income of farmers, from the
present $40 per acre of land to over $500.
2. Major disadvantages of ILR
• Environmental costs (deforestation, soil- erosion, etc.)
• Rehabilitation: not an easy task
• Social unrest/Psychological damage due to forced resettlement
of local people (for example, Sardar Sarovar Project)
• Political effects: strained relationship with neighbors (Pakistan,
Bangladesh)
3. Issues and challenges
Inter-
River Linking Project involves multifaceted issues
and challenges related to economic, ecological, and social
costs. On this note, Iyer (2003) very sharply states that “We
have had great difficulty in completing even a single project
successfully and we want to embark on thirty massive projects
at the same time.”
IRL project has caused much anger and protest in our
neighbouring nation, Bangladesh. It is grappled with fear
that diversion of water from the Brahmaputra and the Ganges,
which provide 85% of the country’s fresh water flow in
the dry season, would result into an ecological disaster.
Indian National Water Development Agency plans to dig
hundreds of reservoirs and more than 600 canals. This may
trigger an alarm among environmentalists to raise their voice
against this plan. Environmentalists are quite concerned
about the ecological impact of the project of such huge magnitude.
Shiva (2003) very aptly remarked that the water flowing
into the sea is not waste; it is a crucial link in the water
cycle. With the link broken, the ecological balance of land and
oceans, freshwater and sea water, also gets disrupted Shiva
considered ILR violence to nature: “Violence is not intrinsic to
the use of river waters for human needs. It is a particular characteristic
of gigantic river valley projects which work against,
and not with, the logic of the river.”
As this project is of massive estimated cost, a long term
planning and a sound financial simulation are required to
meet the standard of due diligence for such proposals. The
huge expenditure may likely generate fiscal problems that
are difficult to handle. The maintenance cost and physical position
of the dams, canals, tunnels, and captive electric power
generation will also involve huge financial burdens. This certainly
requires financial assistance from the private sector, as
well as global capital agencies. Mobilization of global capital
may ultimately entail the risk of destroying social welfare
measures.
The rehabilitation of project-affected people in water
infrastructure projects will also pose a burning question before
the concerned authorities. The construction of reservoirs
and river linking canals in the peninsular component alone
expect to displace more than 583,000 people and submerge
large areas of forest, agriculture and non-agriculture land.
Transfer of water is bound to be unacceptable as no state
is likely to transfer water to another foregoing possible future
use of such water. Domestic and regional geo-politics play a
pivotal role on the discussions on ILR. As of now, there is no
mechanism as of now to deal with matters concerning interbasin
transfers. There are also important institutional and
legal issues to be sorted out. As per the latest information
disclosed in the Indian Parliament, Union Minster of Parliamentary
Affairs and Water Resources informed the house
that NWDA has spent Rs 350.5 crores on various Inter-River
Linking Project (IRL) studies up to February 2012 and Water
Resource Ministry had not received certified copy of guidelines,
as issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.
Some of the ILR (inter-linking of rivers) schemes have international
implications, with a possible impact on countries
like Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Each of the 30 schemes of
the ILR is supposed to get through several statutory, legal and
procedural steps. None of the schemes have gone through
any of it. The Union ministry of environment and forests has
already said no to the project. No state is ready to give water
to another state. In India‘s constitution, water is essentially a
state subject. Several states including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh,
Assam and Sikkim have already opposed ILR projects. There
will be several environmental impacts of ILR including submergence of land and forests, destruction of rivers, aquatic
and terrestrial biodiversity, downstream impacts, destruction
of fisheries, salinity ingress, pollution concentration, destruction
of groundwater recharge and increased methane emission
from reservoirs, among others. Unfortunately there is no
comprehensive assessment of all such possible impacts for a
single link in any credible way.
5. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of
India, on 23rd of May 2003, had shown a very serious concern
about the environmental issues related to the proposed interlinking
project. Bandyopadhyay (2003) asked the question
“How are the environmental damages that may be caused by
the interlinking project identified and their financial costs estimated,
if at all?”
Martin (2003) clearly warned that linking rivers like
straight pipelines without looking at the ecological impact
may be very harmful for our environment. Scientists are also
doubtful that river diversion may bring significant changes
in the physical and chemical compositions of the sediment
load, river morphology and the shape of the delta formed at
the river basin. Water related diseases, such as Malaria, and
Filariasis can spread through stagnant or slow moving water
in the irrigation command area. The ecologically un-informed
economic development activities, like widespread waterlogging
and the resulting desertification in the catchment areas
of many large irrigation projects, can also be cited.
Roy (1999) states that, “In India, fifty million people are estimated
to have been displaced in the last five decades by the
construction of dams, power plants, highways and such other
infrastructure development projects. Subsequently no more
than one-fourth of them could be assisted to regain their
livelihoods”. Wolfensohn (1995) remarked that ‘Such social
injustice can destroy economic and political advances. With
the link broken, the ecological balance of land and oceans,
freshwater and sea water, is also disrupted (Shiva 2003).
A section of scientists argue that large dams and reservoirs
also cause earthquakes. The controversies over koina
dam, Tehri dam are few such examples. In view of a spate of
earthquakes being experienced, the presence of large number
of reservoirs will prove to be disastrous in case of any such
eventuality. Inter-linking a toxic river with a non-toxic one will
have a devastating impact on all our rivers and, consequently,
on all human beings and wild life.
Shiva (2003) considers ILR to be an act of violence against
nature: “Violence is not intrinsic to the use of river waters for
human needs. It is a particular characteristic of gigantic river
valley projects that work against, and not with, the logic of
the river. These projects are based on reductionist assumptions,
which relate water use not to nature’s processes but
to the processes of revenue and profit generation… Rivers,
instead of being seen as sources of life, become sources of
cash. In Worster’s words, the river ends up becoming an assembly
line, rolling increasingly toward the goal of unlimited
production. The irrigated factory drinks the region dry.” Iyer
(2003) is acerbic in his comments on IRL projects: “Are rivers
bundles of pipelines to be cut, turned around, welded and rejoined?
This is technological hubris – arrogance – of the worst
description, prometheanism of the crassest kind. The country
needs to be saved from this madness.”
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Successful implementation of this project largely looms
upon timely release of water from the surplus basin to the
deficit basin. The Government of India has constituted a task
force to examine the project, comprised of experts from science,
engineering, economics, and social sciences and including
as official stakeholders one member from a water
deficit state and one member from a water surplus state. It
will address the following broad issues: provide guidance
for norms of appraisal of individual projects vis-à-vis their
economic viability, socio-economic impacts, environmental
impacts, and preparation of resettlement plans; develop a
mechanism for speedy consensus amongst states; prioritize
different projects; propose organizational structures for implementing
the project; consider funding modalities for the
project; and consider the international ramifications of the
project. The completion date for achieving the goal of the
interlinking project is December 31, 2016 (Ministry of Water
Resources 2002).
Amidst rapid development and urbanization, outdated
systems of managing water resources; it is the high time for
India to come forward in all-out manner to transform this
dream project into a big reality. Fact is that the ILR projects
are site and requirement specific depending upon the hydrological,
geological, topographical and regional conditions.
It is essential that needed environmental safeguards are
properly implemented in a coordinated manner by various
agencies. We have to develop a range of models that agree
to use shared data sets and explore definitions of water use/
consumption.
If water transferred from water abundant rivers to waterdeficit
areas, there would be adequate supply for everyone
in every part of the country. It also appears to promote national
integration and a fair sharing of the country’s natural
water wealth. India’s river linking project shows and promises
a great concern for water conservation and optimum use of
available water resources. Undoubtedly, it is the need of the
hour to have a water mission like as IRL, which will enable
availability of water to the fields, villages, towns and industries
throughout the year, even while maintaining environmental
purity to combat with both fold and drought simultaneously.
The problem of providing domestic water supplies in areas
away from the rivers will largely remain unsolved, even
if the interlinking project is completed.
