The Supreme Court vide its judgment dated 27.02.2012 in the Writ Petition (Civil) No. 512 of 2002 on ‘Networking of Rivers’ along with Writ Petition No. 668 of 2002 directed the Union of India and particularly the Ministry of Water Resources to constitute a Committee under the chairmanship of Minister of Water Resources for the implementation of Interlinking of Rivers Programme (ILR).

            As per the directions of Supreme Court, a committee called “Special Committee on Interlinking of Rivers” was constituted under the Chairmanship of the Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD & GR) for the implementation of ILR programme vide Gazette Notification dated 23^rd September, 2014. Thirteen meetings of the Special Committee for ILR have been held so far (last meeting held on 27.07.2017 at New Delhi), wherein State Irrigation/ Water Resources Ministers along with the Secretaries of various States attended the meetings. The Special Committee on ILR takes into consideration all the suggestions/observations of the stakeholders while planning and formulating the ILR projects.

In the first meeting of the Special Committee for ILR held on 17.10.2014, it was decided to constitute the following four specific sub-committees.

i)      Sub-committee for comprehensive evaluation of various studies/reports (Sub-Committee - I)

Seven meetings of Sub-committee-I have been held so far. The last meeting was held on 26.07.2016.

ii)    Sub-Committee for system studies for identifications of most appropriate alternate plan (Sub-Committee - II)

Ten meetings of Sub-committee-II have been held so far. The last meeting was held on 03.03.2017.

iii)  Sub-Committee for Restructuring of National Water Development Agency (Sub-committee – III)

Sub-committee – III completed the assigned task and submitted its report to the Ministry of Water Resources, RD&GR on 21.09.2015.

iv)  Sub-committee for consensus building through negotiations and arriving at agreement between concerned States (Sub-committee – IV)

Two meetings of Sub-committee – IV have been held so far and the last meeting was held on 30.10.2015.

Constitution of Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers (2015)

The Union Cabinet while approving the constitution of Special Committee for ILR in its meeting held on 24^thJuly, 2014 directed that a committee comprising of experts be constituted to look into the issues relating to inter linking of rivers. In compliance to the direction of Union Cabinet, MoWR, RD & GR vide O.M. dated 13^thApril, 2015 constituted a Task Force for ILR under the Chairmanship of Shri B.N. Navalawala, Chief Advisor, MoWR, RD&GR. The Task Force assists the Special Committee for ILR and MoWR, RD & GR regarding the implementation of ILR Programme. Eight meetings of the Task Force have been held so far and the last meeting was held on 15.09.2017.

Present Status of Interlinking of Rivers Programme

Under the National Perspective Plan (NPP) for water resources development through inter basin transfer of water prepared by this Ministry in August 1980, National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has identified 30 links (16 under Peninsular Component & 14 under Himalayan Component) for preparation of Feasibility Reports (FRs). After survey and investigations, FRs of 14 links under Peninsular Component and 2 links in the Himalayan component have been prepared. Present status, States concerned and States benefited of Inter Basin Water Transfer Links are given in Annexure.

 

Based on the concurrence of concerned states, four priority links for preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) have been identified viz; Ken-Betwa link project (KBLP) Phase-I & II, Damanganga-Pinjal link, Par-Tapi-Narmada link and Mahanadi-Godavari link. The DPRs of KBLP Phase I & II, Daman-Ganga-Pinjal, Par-Tapi-Narmada have been prepared and shared with the respective States. Further, various Statutory Clearances have been obtained for KBLP Phase-I. The project will benefit the drought prone areas of Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. 

 

Further, the techno-economic clearance to the Damanganga-Pinjal link project has also been accorded subject to statutory clearances. The DPR of Par-Tapi-Narmada has been submitted for technical appraisal in Central Water Commission. The DPR of the Mahanadi – Godavari link could not be taken up as the Government of Odisha was not agreeable for Mahanadi – Godavari link, a mother link of 9 link system viz., Mahanadi – Godavari – Krishna – Pennar – Palar – Cauvery – Vaigai – Gundar linkage due to large submergence involved in Manibhadra Dam. Based on the suggestions of WRD, Govt. of Odisha, NWDA has prepared a preliminary revised proposal of Mahanadi- Godavari Link Project with reduced submergence and submitted to the State Govt. of Odisha.

 

Present status of Inter Basin Water Transfer Links, the States involved, name of rivers and status of Feasibility Reports/Detailed Project Report

Sl. No	Name	Rivers	States concerned	Status
Peninsular  Component
1	Mahanadi (Manibhadra) - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link	Mahanadi  & Godavari	Odisha, Maharashtra,  Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, & Chattisgarh	FR Completed
2	Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Pulichintala) link	Godavari  &   Krishna	-do-	FR Completed
3	Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link	Godavari & Krishna	Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka & Chattisgarh,	FR Completed
4	Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) link	Godavari & Krishna	Odisha, Maharashtra,  Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, & Chattisgarh	FR Completed
5	Krishna (Almatti) – Pennar link	Krishna  &  Pennar	-do-	FR Completed
6	Krishna (Srisailam) – Pennar link	Krishna  &  Pennar	-do-	FR Completed
7	Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila ) link	Krishna  &  Pennar	Maharashtra,  Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka,	FR Completed
8	Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link	Pennar  & Cauvery	Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Puducherry	FR Completed
9	Cauvery (Kattalai) - Vaigai -Gundar link	Cauvery, Vaigai & Gundar	Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Puducherry	FR Completed
10	Ken-Betwa link	Ken & Betwa	Uttar Pradesh  & Madhya Pradesh	FR & DPR (Ph-I&II) Completed
11	Parbati -Kalisindh-  Chambal link	Parbati, Kalisindh & Chambal	Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan & Uttar Pradesh (UP  requested to be consulted during consensus building)	FR Completed
12	Par-Tapi-Narmada link	Par, Tapi & Narmada	Maharashtra & Gujarat	FR & DPR Completed
13	Damanganga - Pinjal link	Damanganga & Pinjal	Maharashtra & Gujarat	FR & DPR Completed
14	Bedti - Varda link	Bedti & Varda	Maharashtra,  Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka	PFR Completed
15	Netravati – Hemavati link	Netravati & Hemavati	Karnataka, Tamil Nadu &  Kerala	PFR Completed
16	Pamba - Achankovil - Vaippar link	Pamba, Achankovil & Vaippar	Kerala & Tamil Nadu,	FR Completed
Himalayan Component
1.	Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga (M-S-T-G) link	Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga	Assam, West Bengal,  Bihar& Bhutan	PFR completed
2.	Kosi-Ghaghra link	Kosi & Ghaghra	Bihar , Uttar Pradesh & Nepal	PFR completed
3.	Gandak-Ganga link	Gandak & Ganga	-do-	Draft FR  completed (Indian portion)
4.	Ghaghra-Yamuna link	Ghaghra & Yamuna	-do-	FR completed (Indian portion)
5.	Sarda-Yamuna link	Sarda & Yamuna	Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand & Nepal	FR completed (Indian portion)
6.	Yamuna-Rajasthan link	Yamuna & Sukri	Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana & Rajasthan	Draft FR  completed
7.	Rajasthan-Sabarmati link	Sabarmati	-do-	Draft FR  completed
8.	Chunar-Sone Barrage link	Ganga & Sone	Bihar & Uttar Pradesh	Draft FR  completed
9.	Sone Dam – Southern Tributaries of Ganga link	Sone & Badua	Bihar & Jharkhand	PFR completed
10.	Ganga(Farakka)-Damodar-Subernarekha link	Ganga, Damodar & Subernarekha	West Bengal, Odisha & Jharkhand	Draft FR completed
11.	Subernarekha-Mahanadi link	Subernarekha & Mahanadi	West Bengal  & Odisha	Draft FR  Completed
12.	Kosi-Mechi link	Kosi &Mechi	Bihar , West Bengal & Nepal	PFR completed Entirely lies in Nepal
13.	Ganga (Farakka)-Sunderbans link	Ganga & Ichhamati	West Bengal	Draft FR  completed
14.	Jogighopa-Tista-Farakka link (Alternative to M-S-T-G)	Manas, Tista & Ganga	-do-	(Alternative to M-S-T-G Link) dropped

 PFR- Pre  Feasibility Report

·         FR- Feasibility Report

·         DPR- Detailed Project Report

This information was given by Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today. 

 

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