INTERLINKING OF

RIVERS IN INDIA
DASARI NAVYA
B160562CE
 CONTENTS
• What is Interlinking of Rivers?
• Reasons Behind Interlinking
• History
• The National River Linking Project of India
• Present Status
• Benefits
• Issues
• Challenges
• Conclusions
• References
 WHAT IS INTERLINKING OF RIVERS?

• Linking two or more rivers by creating a network of canals

• Transfer of water from surplus water basins to the deficit water basins
• Transfer of water from the basins where there is flooding to the basins
where there is droughts/scarcity
 REASONS BEHIND ILR
• Regional Rainfall Variation
• Futuristic Demand of Irrigation
• Increasing population and Food Demand
• To Control Floods and Droughts
 HISTORY
• 1858 -Sir Arthur Cotton-plan to link Godavari and Krishna Rivers
• 1972 - Dr. K.L.Rao- National Water Grid
• 1980 - National Perspective Plan-Himalayan and Peninsular Components
• 1982 - National Water Development Agency-Feasibility of Storage
• 1999 - NCIWRDP-Revived the plan for Interlinking
• 2002 - Supreme Court Order-Beginning of NRLP
 THE NATIONAL RIVER LINKING
PROJECT OF INDIA
• To ease water shortages in western and southern India
• To reduce floods in the eastern part of Ganga basin
• Studies carried on 137 water basins/sub basins and 71 diversion points
• NWDA identified 30 links
• Peninsular Component – 16 links
• Himalayan Component – 14 links
 PRESENT STATUS
Four Priority Links
 Ken-Betwa Link
 Damanganga-Pinjal link
 Par-Tapi-Narmada link
 Mahanadi-Godavari link
 KEN-BETWA LINK
• Ken and Betwa Rivers originates from MP
• Flows through the Bundelkhand Region of MP and UP
• Ken River – Surplus Water basin
• Betwa River – Deficit Water basin
• Daudhan Dam across Ken River
• 221 km Ken Betwa link
 KEN BETWA LINK
• 591 Million cubic water will be delivered to Betwa River
• 6 drought prone districts from UP and MP will be benefitted
• 100000 hectare area will be irrigated annually near Betwa basin
• Two power houses of 78 Mega Watt capacity
• 5258 hectare forest land submergence
• Project cost was estimated to be 9000 crores
 DAMANGANGA-PINJAL LINK
• Drinking water supply to Mumbai
• Present Water Demand of Mumbai 4484 MLD
• Water Demand for the year 2041-5940 MLD
• Mumbai receives water from 7 sources
• Estimated Deficit in 2041-2610 MLD
• DPR submitted by NWDA in the year 2015
 DAMANGANGA PINJAL LINK
• Surplus water from Damanganga River diverted to Mumbai via Pinjal reservoir
• Bhugad dam across Damanganga River in Gujarat
• Khargihill dam across Vagh river in Maharashtra
• Two Reservoirs are linked by a 17 km tunnel
• Khargihill-Pinjal tunnel will be created
• Bhugad-Khargihill and Khargihill-Pinjal tunnels transfer water to Mumbai city
 PAR-TAPI-NARMADA LINK

• Transfers surplus waters of Par,

Auranga, Ambica and Purna River
basins
• Saurashtra and Kutch regions will be
benefitted
• 7 reservoirs
• Large areas under submergence
 MAHANADI-GODAVARI LINK
• Mother of 9 link system
• Mahanadi-Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Palar-Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar
• The Godavari(Polavaram)-Krishna(Vijayawada) link (Polavaram Project)
is under construction
• DPR preparation is under progress
 POLAVARAM PROJECT
• Transfers surplus water from Godavari River basin to the Krishna river
• Non over flow masonry Dam(560m) and Earth Dam(1600m) across
Godavari River
• The Right Canal connects to Krishna River in the upstream of prakasam
barrage
• Water will be supplied to Rayalaseema and vizag city
• Concerned with the large displacement of people
 PATTISEEMA LIFT IRRIGATION
PROJECT
• Linking Godavari and Krishna Rivers
• Not Completely a river linking project
• First and The Fastest such Irrigation Project
• In 2016, flood water from Godavari was diverted to Prakasam Barrage on
the Krishna River
• The Project has one of the largest pump houses in Asia with 24 pumping
units
 BENEFITS
• Irrigation benefits up to 35 million hectares
• Hydropower generation of 34 giga Watts
• Drinking Water
• Navigation
• Business Opportunities
• Flood Prevention
• Revenue
 ISSUES
• Ecological Issues
• Aqua Life
• Deforestation
• Areas getting Submerged
• Displacement of People
 CHALLENGES
• Cost – 5,60,000 crores
• Conflicts between States
• Agreement with the Neighbouring countries
• Protests from People due to land acquisition
• Construction Works
 CONCLUSIONS
• Water sharing results in bitter legal issues between states which lasts for years
• The Ecological, social and legal issues are not studied to the full extent
• While the intended benefits of the project will be proven oven time, one thing
is sure it will change the geography of the country
• If completed, it would be among the biggest engineering feasts in history
• But it could also be the greatest man made ecological disaster
 REFERENCES
• [1] Planning Commission, (1998): Report of the Committee on 25 years Perspective plan of the Development of Rain-fed-
Areas, Government of India.
• [2] Jayantha Bandyopadhyay and Shama Perveen, The Interlinking of Indian Rivers, Manak Publishers, Edition 1, 2003.
• [3] Ministry of Water Resources, (1999): Report of the Working Group of NCIWRDP on Water Availability for Use,
Government of India.
• [4] Ministry of Water Resources, (1999): Report of the Working Group of NCIWRDP on Perspective of Water
Requirements, Government of India.
• [5] Ministry of Water Resources, (2017): Report of the Working Group of NWDA on Interlinking of River Projects in the
Country, Government of India.
• [6] Jacob Koshy and Samarth Bansal, “Interlinking of Rivers: An idea with flaws,” The Hindu (New Delhi), 2016.
• [7] Ministry of Water Resources, (2018): Report of the Working Group of NWDA on ILR in Parliament, Government of
India.