India eyes intra-state river linking to combat drought

India eyes intra-state river linking to combat drought

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Puja Das

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08 Jan 2025, 03: 05 PM
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Intra-state river linking emerges as a feasible solution for drought-hit regions, but political hurdles persist. (Image: Pixabay)




Intra-state river linking emerges as a feasible solution for drought-hit regions, but political hurdles persist. (Image: Pixabay)

Summary

The objective of river-linking is to link surplus rivers with deficient rivers to address the issue of drought and excessive water in a particular region.

NEW DELHI
:

India’s water crisis is a tale of extremes—while some regions battle floods, others face parching droughts. 

In a move to address this imbalance, the Centre is expanding its water management strategy by complementing inter-state river-linking with a localized intra-state model. The aim: channel surplus water to drought-prone regions and tackle water scarcity at its roots, two government officials said.

The urgency is stark. Over 60% of India’s 800 districts are classified as high climate risk zones, vulnerable to floods and droughts—two of the country’s most frequent and devastating natural disasters. 

A December report by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology reveals that more than 85% of these high-risk districts are concentrated in 13 states, including Bihar, Assam, and Karnataka, underscoring the scale of the challenge.

A new paradigm

With water being a state subject, the Union government has left it to individual states to identify and propose intra-state river-linking projects, officials said. Meanwhile, progress continues on the 44,605 crore Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP), India’s first inter-state river-linking initiative.

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Intra-state river linking will focus on connecting rivers within a single state, such as pairing a perennial river with a monsoonal one. This approach offers a practical solution to localized water management challenges, and the Union ministry is actively encouraging states to explore its feasibility, according to one of the officials cited earlier.

“States cannot presume they have both kinds of rivers within the state. If it is there, then they can go ahead after pre-feasibility and feasibility reports,” the official said.

“The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has identified some potential links, and some studies have been done in terms of the pre-feasibility. So, wherever the pre-feasibility and feasibility reports indicate a positive signal, the states have to come up with a proposal,” the official added.

NWDA’s role and identified projects

NWDA in its pre-feasibility report identified a few potential intra-state river link projects including Burhi Gandak-Noon-Baya-Ganga in Bihar.

The Burhi Gandak-Noon-Baya-Ganga Link project is poised to bring transformative benefits to the districts of Samastipur, Begusarai, and Khagaria in Bihar. It aims to irrigate 126,000 hectares of agricultural land during the kharif season, generating an estimated annual economic benefit of 587.10 crore. 

Additionally, the project includes the construction of a barrage across the Burhi Gandak river and a 28.95 km link canal, offering significant flood relief and enhancing water management in the region.

The official also informed that as per the National Prospective Plan (NPP), around 25 odd links for pre-feasibility and feasibility have already been identified by NWDA.

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The objective of river-linking is to link surplus rivers with deficient rivers to address the issue of drought and excessive water in a particular region.

“We are interested because there are some areas where there is no water, whereas there are some areas which have a profuse amount of water. Economics and other things come afterwards,” the other official said.

Challenges beyond science

Interlinking works effectively when there is a perennial water source to support the system of transferring water from one region to another. Investing heavily in such infrastructure is not viable for short-term solutions. 

An alternative could involve

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