Relevance: GS-3: Different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage

Key Phrases: Ken-Betwa Link Project, National perspective plan (NPP), National Water Development Agency (NWDA), ‘Composite Water Management Index

Why in News?

• Recently in Budget 2022-23, a strong announcement was made for the implementation of the Ken-Betwa Link Project with an estimated cost of ₹44,605 crore.
• Budget also announced that Draft DPRs of five river links, namely Damanganga-Pinjal, Par-Tapi-Narmada, Godavari-Krishna, Krishna-Pennar and Pennar-Cauvery also have been finalised.

Background:

• National perspective plan (NPP): The proposal to interlink rivers gathered momentum when the Ministry of Water Resources formulated a national perspective plan (NPP) for optimum utilisation of the country’s water resources during the 1980s.
• This ambitious plan of linking of the rivers received a further nitro-boost when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. Under the NPP, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) identified 14 river links in the northern Himalayan river development component and 16 in southern peninsular river development component for inter-basin transfer of water.

What are the benefits making River Linking Project(RLP) an economic powerhouse for the economy?

• Reduce the dependence on Monsoon for Irrigation:
  1. The River Linking Projects(RLP) involves the process of diverting surplus river water through a network of canals to water-starved areas either within or outside a State.
  2. RLP claims to provide additional irrigation to about 35 million hectares in the water scarce western and peninsular regions. This will further augment employment, crop output and farm income.
• Water is basic minimum requirement for humanity's existence:
  1. Water forms an integral part of human livelihood and survival.
  2. Water is also vital in increasing cropping intensity and the yield of crops two-three times more than that of rain-fed areas.
• Climate change and Erratic Monsoon:
  1. India heavily relies on the monsoon for its water needs, so much so that one bad monsoon can ruin the entire year’s agricultural output and the economy.
  2. The country receives most of its annual rainfall during the four months from June to September, but the quantum of rain varies widely across States.
  3. The RLP will balance the uneven water flow in different river basins, which otherwise flows wastefully into sea.
• Vital for achieving SDG 1(Zero Poverty) and SDG 2(Zero Hunger):
  1. The diversion of water from surplus to water-starved areas will ensure food security, resulting in poverty reduction.
  2. As per the projection of the National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development (1999), the country will require about 450 million tonnes of foodgrains a year to feed 1.50 billion population in the year 2050.
  3. To meet this, the country needs to expand its irrigated area to 160 million hectares by 2050, but the growth of canal irrigated area has not been significant in recent years due to various reasons. Thus, need for successful completion of RLP is paramount.
• RLP integral to Disaster Management:
  1. Floods are a recurring feature particularly in the large parts of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin affecting the States of Assam, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
  2. On the other extreme, a number of Western (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan) and Peninsular States (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) face recurring droughts.
  3. The National River Linking Project (NRLP) proposes to transfer the excess flood water from the States to the water scarce regions.
  4. Thus, RLP will help in solving India's perennial problem of Drought and Floods side by side.
• Positive trickle down effect on whole economy- Drinking Water, Clean Energy:
  1. With competing demand from agriculture, industry and energy, availability of drinking water is already under severe stress.
  2. As per the report on ‘Composite Water Management Index’ published by the NITI Aayog (2018), “600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about two lakh people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water”.
  3. The NRLP is also expected to generate about 34 giga watt additional hydropower.

What are the concerns making RLP an ecological blackhole for the Economy?

• Experts said RLP is an extravagant scheme involving huge costs.
• A few environmentalists and hydrologists asserted that RLP can do irreversible damage:
  1. The large network of dams and canals will alter the natural drainage leading to flooding.
  2. Vast tracts of lands will submerge leading to displacement of innumerable people.
  3. Increase the vulnerability of already very fragile ecosystem like Himalayas, Western Ghats
• Some river basin experts said that surplus water should not be diverted from a river on a large scale as the excess water is necessary to keep river basins healthy as it percolates down to the soil, recharges groundwater, etc.

Way Forward

• Absolute Pareto optimality is never possible: The environment versus development debate continues, environmentalists must understand that no developmental programme can bring 100 per cent Pareto optimality.
• RLP appears to be an effective solution for addressing the problems of water scarcity, poverty and flood. However, before implementing the proposal on a large scale, a sound scientific and technical assessment of the proposal needs to be undertaken in order to make it techno-economically feasible.
• Inter-State concern over the sharing of a scarce resource:
  1. One of the main reasons for States not willing to share their surplus water with other States. This should be addressed comprehensively.
  2. If the water-surplus region supplies water to the water deficit region, then the former needs to be adequately compensated by monetary incentives and other means so that the States would be willing to share the surplus water with their deficit counterparts.
• The severe water scarcity is already looming in most parts of the country, swift action is needed to link the rivers wherever possible jointly by the Centre and States to strengthen the water and food security, without creating an ecological disaster.

Source: The Hindu BL

Mains Question:

Q. Despite several steps taken to improve inter-state river interlinking, it still remains abysmally low with little policy success. Analyse.( 10 marks).