INTER-BASIN WATER TRANSFER

Rama Prasad
Professor (Rtd)
Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
 INTERBASIN WATER TRANSFER

• Has the objective of conserving the water

resources and making more water available
for use
• NWDA has prepared feasibility reports for 14
links in North India and 16 links in Peninsular
India
 Types of Transfer
• One main river to another (inter basin)
• One tributary to another (intra basin)
• Main river to branch (Delta)
• Branch to main river (Delta)
• Other combinations
Kukkarahalli Kere
 EXISTING PROJECTS

• Mullaperiyar (1895): Diverts water from west

flowing Periyar in Kerala to east flowing Vaigai
in Tamil Nadu (40.75 cumecs)
MULLAPERIYAR PROJECT
 EXISTING PROJECTS (contd)

• Parambikulam-Aliyar (1958-1990): Reservoirs

on seven west flowing streams interconnected
with tunnels. Water diverted to east to
irrigate lands in Coimbatore and Chittur areas
in Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively.
• Irrigates 1.74 lakh ha
 EXISTING PROJECTS (contd)

• Kurnool Cudappah Canal (1863): 84.9 cumecs

diverted from Tungabhadra to Pennar basin by
a 304 km long canal
• Irrigates 1.06 lakh ha
K-C CANAL
 EXISTING PROJECTS (contd)
• Telugu Ganga: 408 km long canal takes off
from Srisailam reservoir and ends at Poondi
reservoir in Tamil Nadu. 315 cumecs at the
head of the canal
• 2.33 lakh ha of land in Andhra Pradesh
irrigated en route
• 28.32 cumecs to be delivered at TN border
TELUGU GANGA CANAL
TELUGU GANGA CANAL
 EXISTING PROJECTS (contd)

• Ravi-Beas-Sutlej- Indira Gandhi Nahar

Project: Dams on Sutlej at Bhakra (330 TMC),
Beas at Pong (303 TMC) and Ravi at Thein
(116 TMC); 83 TMC transferred from Ravi to
Beas (250 cumecs); Similar amount from Beas
to Sutlej (255 cumecs)
RAVI-BEAS-SUTLEJ SYSTEM
Cauvery and its Delta
Kallanai (Grand Anicut)
Kallanai (Grand Anicut)
Kallanai (Grand Anicut)
Kallanai (Grand Anicut)
 Kallanai (Grand Anicut)

• The anicut provides water for irrigating

400,000 ha of land along the Delta Region.
• The structure measures 329m in length, 20m
in width and 5.4m in height.
• Improvements were made to the anicut in the
19th century by Arthur Cotton.
FARAKKA BARRAGE
FARAKKA BARRAGE
FARAKKA BARRAGE
 Farakka Barrage Objectives
• To divert adequate quantity of Ganga waters to
Bhagirathi-Hoogly river system for preservation and
maintenance of Kolkata Port by improving the regime
and navigability of the Bhagirathi-Hoogly river system.
• To reduce salinity of Bhagirathi-Hoogly and ensure
sweet water supply to Kolkata and surrounding areas.
• The rail-cum-road bridge built over Farakka Barrage
across the river Ganga at Farakka establishes direct
road and rail communication link to the North-Eastern
States with rest of the country.
• The Bhagirathi, the Feeder Canal and the Navigation
Lock at Farakka form part of the Haldia-Prayagraj
Inland Waterway (National Waterway No:1).
 Farakka Barrage Components
• A 2245 metre long Barrage across river Ganga,
with 109 bays and a Head Regulator with 11
bays
• A 213 metre long Barrage across river
Bhagirathi at Jangipur with 15 bays
• 38.38 km long Feeder Canal with carrying
capacity of 1133 cumec (40,000 cusec)
• Navigation locks at Farakka and Jangipur
• Kalindri Regulator, lock and other
infrastructure
 NWDA PLANS FOR RIVER INTERLINKING

• 30 links
• Total length of links 14900 km
• Largest infrastructure project in the world
 PARAMETERS TO BE CONSIDERED
• Hydrology of the concerned rivers
• Topography
• In-basin commitments
• Availability of storage sites
• Water utilisation patterns
• Constraints on utilisation (e.g., by tribunals)
• Avoidance of wastage
• Distribution policy optimisation
• Sizing of conveyance system
• MDDL
 SOME NORTHERN LINKS (NWDA)

Quantity
Link Diverted,
TMC
Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga (MSTG) Link 1339
Sarda-Yamuna Link 632
Yamuna-Rajasthan Link 306
Rajasthan-Sabarmati Link 209
 SOME SOUTHERN LINKS (NWDA)

Quantity
Link Diverted,
TMC
Mahanadi-Godavari Link 395
Godavari (Inchampalli)-Krishna (Nagarjunsagar)
Link 580
Godavari (Inchampalli)-Krishna (Pulichintala) Link 138
Godavari (Polavaram)-Krishna (Vijaywada) Link 173
Krishna (Srisailam)-Pennar Link 82
Krishna (Nagarjunsagar) - Pennar (Somasila) Link 429
Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) Link 302
Ken-Betwa Link
POLAVARAM PROJECT
 POLAVARAM PROJECT
• Dam across Godavari at Polavaram, FRL 150 ft
• Gross storage 194 TMC; Live storage 75 TMC
• Spillway capacity 36 lakh cusecs
• Irrigation 23.2 lakh acres
• Drinking and industrial water supply 23.4 TMC
• Right and Left main canals, each 500 cumecs
• Right main canal, 174 km long, delivers 80
TMC to Krishna river 8 km upstream of
Prakasam Barrage
• Dead storage used for downstream projects
like Pattiseema LIS, Dowleswaram Barrage etc
INCHAMPALLI-NAGARJUNASAGAR LINK
 INCHAMPALLI-NAGARJUNASAGAR LINK
• Reservoir on Godavari at Inchampalli
• FRL 112.77 m; Storage 366 TMC
• Link canal to Nagarjunasagar 299.3 km long,
capacity 1090 cumecs
• 4 lifts totalling 107 m
• Out of 580 TMC to be diverted, 59 TMC
utilised en route and 521 TMC flows into
Nagarjunasagar
• Some water proposed to be conveyed to
Cauvery, Pennar and Vaigai rivers
• Cost Rs 26300 cr at 2002 prices
INCHAMPALLI-PULICHINTALA LINK
 INCHAMPALLI-PULICHINTALA LINK

• Reservoir on Godavari at Inchampalli

• FRL 112.77 m; Storage 366 TMC
• Link canal to Pulichintala 312.2 km long,
capacity 304 cumecs
• Out of 154 TMC to be diverted, 129 TMC
utilised for irrigation and 15 TMC for
Municipal and Industrial purposes
PATTISEEMA L.I. PROJECT
 PATTISEEMA L.I. PROJECT
• Pattiseema Project conceived in the background
of water dispute with Telangana and delay in
executing Polavaram Project
• Completed in one year
• 80 TMC pumped (240 cumecs) from Godavari
near Pattiseema (downstream of Polavaram dam)
to Polavaram Right Main Canal to reduce
dependence of Krishna Delta on Srisailam and
Nagarjunasagar. Caters to industry around the
new capital of AP
• 24 pumps and 12 rows of rising main 3 km long
PATTISEEMA L.I. PROJECT
 PRANAHITA-CHEVELLA PROJECT
• 160 TMC diverted from barrage on Pranahita
(a tributary to Godavari) for various purposes
in Telangana including to Krishna basin
• Project cost Rs 38500 cr; 28 packages
• Irrigates 16.4 lakh acres in Telangana
• Water to 1096 tanks, twin cities and industry
in seven districts
• 31 lifts 536 m; Discharge at head 585 cumecs
• Power requirement 3466 MW
PRANAHITA-CHEVELLA PROJECT
 SOME SOUTHERN LINKS (NWDA)
(contd)
Quantity
Link Diverted,
TMC
Netravati
(Yettina hole + Keri hole + Hongadahallada hole)
to Hemavati Link 6.6
UPPER BHADRA PROJECT

CASE STUDY
UPPER BHADRA PROJECT
UPPER BHADRA PROJECT
 OVERVIEW OF UBP
• Pumping up to 60 cumecs of water into the 11.3
km long link canal leading to Bhadra reservoir
• Pumping 81 cumecs of water into the 40.5 km
long UB main canal
• 139.6 km long Chitradurga branch canal irrigates
1.07 lakh ha
• 157.5 km long Tumkur branch canal irrigates
84900 ha
• 26.2 km long Jagalur branch canal irrigates
13200 ha
• Tarikere canal irrigates 20150 ha
• Cost Rs 12340 cr (2012 prices)
 OVERVIEW OF UBP (contd)

• Drip irrigation to 2,13,878 ha (18.5 TMC)

• Drinking water 0.54 TMC
• Filling up 367 tanks to 50% of their live
capacity (8.86 TMC)
• Delivering 2 TMC to Vanivilas Sagar
• Total 29.9 TMC
UPPER BHADRA PROJECT
UPPER BHADRA SCHEMATIC
TUNNEL AT AJJAMPURA (UBP)
 COMBINED WORKING TABLES
• Combined working tables of Tunga dam,
Bhadra dam and Upper Bhadra Project are
necessary to take into account all relevant
factors
• Inflow data at Tunga and Bhadra dams are
available from 1972-73 to 2011-12
• These were aggregated to 10-daily flows
• Water requirements of all 3 projects
considered
WATER REQUIREMENTS
 DATA USED FOR WORKING TABLES
• Inflow into Tunga Anicut and Bhadra Reservoir as
per records.
• Utilization for irrigation and domestic uses, as
planned for Bhadra Reservoir, Gondi Anicut,
Ubrani LIS, Upper Tunga Project and Tunga
Anicut.
• Upper Bhadra water requirement.
• Bhadra Reservoir capacity tables.
• Evaporation rates for Bhadra Reservoir.
• The FRL of Bhadra Reservoir is taken as 662.92 m.
The capacity at FRL is 71535 Mcft.
• MDDL for Bhadra Reservoir Project is taken as
641.584 m (capacity = 13832 Mcft).
 WORKING TABLE RULES
• Pumping from Tunga river into the connecting
canal and from Bhadra reservoir into the
Upper Bhadra canal is assumed to take place
from 16th June to 15th October.
• Priority is given to satisfying the requirements
of Upper Tunga and Tunga Anicut Projects,
and pumping from Tunga is done only if inflow
exceeds these. The upper limit for this
pumping is the balance flow in Tunga or
pumping capacity whichever is lower.
• Pumping from Tunga river is stopped when
Bhadra reservoir is surplusing.
 WORKING TABLE RULES (contd)
• In Bhadra reservoir, priority is given in each
10-daily period to the committed irrigation
and domestic uses, and pumping to the Upper
Bhadra canal is done only if water is available
after that above the UBP MDDL.
WORKING TABLE ANNUAL ABSTRACTS
 DISTRIBUTION TO END USERS

• The large number of end users including

several hundred tanks makes the distribution
system very complex.
Schematic of Yettinahole Distribution
System
 Water Distribution
• Requirement of each end user must be met at
least 50% of the years
• Water comes in only from June to November,
but has to be supplied to users round the year
• Storage capacity of individual end users
should be fixed accordingly
• How much water should be diverted to a user
in a given 10-day period should take into
account how much storage he already has
• Surplusing should be minimised
 Working Tables for Distribution
• In order to achieve these objectives, it is
necessary to prepare 10-daily working tables
for the storage tank at each end user
• These working tables should be combined
ones, i.e., should span from the inflow at DC-4
to the last end user each year