Critics of National

River Linking
Project
Shweta Gaur
2nd sem (USEM)
00313604709
 National River Linking Project

• The aim of the river project is to link the

major Indian river systems across the
country in order to ensure that the
continuous floods and droughts
frequenting India are brought under
control.
 What reports say…..
• THE MUCH touted national river linking project, which had caused a
huge controversy a few years ago, has failed to break much ground
as the fate of the ambitious project now hangs in balance.
With the aim of linking the Indian rivers by 2016, the rupees five lakh
crore project conceived by the previous National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) government has failed to take off. The detailed
report of this major project has been lying in the cold storage and
the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has not shown
any interest in reviving this project.
• The entire project is in such an inertia that the Supreme Court had
to intervene on November 25, 2008. The court asked the Centre to
indicate the status report on the implementation of the project.
• However, even after two months of the intervention, the UPA
government has not filed a response in the court.
 What environmentalists say….

• The river-linking project may be an engineer's

dream but it is an environmentalist's
nightmare, rooted as it is in an engineering
mindset which believes that the only way to
tackle the problem is to find and transport
water -- wherever it might be.
• According to the Union Minister of
State for Environment and Forest,
Jairam Ramesh- The project would
be “human, ecological and economic
disaster for the country”.
• Environmentalists say- River-linking
will be an ecological disaster. "We
require practical solutions and not
spectacular ones"
• Environmentalists say that one of the
major concerns of NRLP is that all rivers
change their course every 70 to 100 years.
" Changing of river path is a natural
phenomenon that can't be altered.
You may link rivers today but once the
rivers start changing their course after a
few decades then the entire project would
be in vain."
The Panna Tiger National Park in Madhya
Pradesh that falls in the vicinity of the linking
of the Ken and Betwa rivers is going to suffer
major damages. Over 50 square kilometers of
land, which is a habitat to many endangered
species that fall under the wild life protection
act 1972, will get submerged.
Uttar Pradesh the famed Jim Corbett National
Park that falls under Shadra-Sahayak Canal
Link will bear irreparable losses with the
submergence of the  elephant reserve area.  
 International concerns
• Bangladesh has urged the World Bank not to
extend support to India for implementation of its
proposed Inter-river link project as it might
create enormous loss to its economy and
environment.
• Diversion of waters from the Brahmaputra would
have a catastrophic impact on Bangladesh. It will
turn major parts of the country into deserts,
destroying its agriculture.
 NRLP – Concerns
Contentious issue among the civil society, media,
and academics
 Project concept itself was dubious
 Needs assessment was not adequate
 Alternative water management/development options
were not fully explored
 Social displacement cost was enormous
 Total cost of the project is very huge etc.
 Unseen problems that would arise
due to NRLP-
• Loss of biodiversity
• Reduction in downstream flows
• Damage to fisheries and wild life
• Displacement of people
• Conflicts over water sharing
• Pressure created on land by cubic tonnes
of water that might cause seismic tremors
which may finally lead to earthquakes.
 Contd………………..
• The interlinking of rivers will disrupt the
entire hydrological cycle by stopping the
rivers from performing their ecological
functions before reaching the ocean.

• Some 4.5 lakh people may be displaced

and 79,292 hectares of forests may be
submerged.
 Contd………………..
• Far from increasing productivity through
irrigation along its course, the large
network of dams and canals may alter the
natural drainage, causing flooding and
water logging in agricultural land.

• The equitable distribution of water across

the country will inadvertently distribute
pollutant loads across rivers as well.
Thank
You..