Will
inter-
linking of
rivers wipe out
floods and
drought in India
Suvesh Sircar
Kolkata Aug- 25,
2005
Inter-linking of rivers has been a much-talked
issue in the
country but how far in will help India remains
to be seen. Although some countries have tried this
concept. China has benefited to some extent as reports
say.
But in India when two state Tamil Nadu and
Karnataka fight over
water sharing of the Cauvery
frequently people doubt how far it will help the country to
reduce effects of drought and flood in its economy and loss
of lives. Water sharing of rivers should above petty
political interest
The inter—linking of rivers will help
the snow fed rivers of the Himalayas to reduce their water
level during monsoon. It will also help rivers located in
drought prone states like Rajasthan and others to get water
from the excess water of other rivers.
After the policy
decision was finalized on August 25, 2005 the union water
resource minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi said, “A detailed
project report will made by the government in three years
time.”
According to analyst, “The government should
publish a white paper on interconnection of rivers. This
white paper should also have intricate detailed condition
of rivers during floods and drought since the last five
decades.”
India being engulfed by rivers inter-linking
of rivers will an ideal theory to keep floods and droughts
at bay as the rivers of the country are very much
strategically located. A detailed satellite surveillance
round the clock through INSAT and other satellites will
help monitoring of water flow and high tide and low tide
situations of rivers.
Indian rivers--- Brahmaputra
(Assam and North-Eastern states), Ganges (UP, Bihar, Uttar
Anchal etc) Koshi (Bihar), Mahanadi (Orissa) are some of
the major flood causing one in the country. If inter-
connection occurs devastation and damage caused by these
rivers could be controlled.
Two chief ministers Mulayam
Sigh Yadav of Uttar Pradesh and Babulal Gaur of Madya
Pradesh have signed the country’s first river-linking
agreement on August 25, 2005. The agreement says a 231 km
canal will be dug and a dam built costing Rs 4,000 to
divert surplus water from river Ken in Madhya Pradesh and
Betwa in Uttar Pradesh. The interlinking will help drought
prone areas of Bunelkhand region.
But green brigade
activist Medha Patkar has attacked the project. And V. K
Joshi, geologist and former regional director Geological
Survey of India, said,” It will damage the ecosystem.” And
over 100 sq km in Panna Damoh and Chatarpur including 19
villages will be submerged. Now the inter-linking will
create man-made floods, which has no ecological benefits
rather than natural ones.
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