30 river linking component spotted: 16 under peninsular, 14 under Himalayan

The Centre has approved the implementation of Ken-Betwa river link project, one of the links under peninsular rivers component with an estimated cost of Rs 44,605 crore with central support of Rs 39,317 crore, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

He said the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti has identified 16 links under peninsular rivers component and 14 links under Himalayan component of National Perspective Plan (NPP) for inter basin transfer.

Pre-feasibility reports of all the 30 links have been completed and feasibility reports of 24 links and detailed project reports of eight links have been completed, he said during Question House.

The minister said the government has approved the implementation of the Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP), one of the links under Peninsular Rivers Component, in December 2021 with an estimated cost of Rs 44,605 crore with central support of Rs 39,317 crore through a special purpose vehicle - Ken Betwa Link Project Authority.

Further, under the intra-state link projects, NWDA received 49 link proposals from 10 states, out of which pre-feasibility reports of 39 link projects and detailed project reports of six link projects were completed and sent to states concerned, he said.

Shekhawat said the large temporal and spatial variation in availability of water in country leads to recurrent floods in some parts, while some other parts experience drought. Interlinking of rivers programme has been envisaged to reduce regional imbalance in the availability of water.

The NPP for water resources development was formulated by the government of India in 1980 for providing storages and transfer of surplus waters to water deficit regions so as to mitigate the effect of annually recurring floods and also to minimise the incidence of droughts, he said.

The minister said the NPP would give additional benefits of 25 million hectares of irrigation from surface waters, 10 million hectares by increased use of ground water, 34,000 MW of hydropower generation and other benefits like augmenting domestic and industrial water supply, navigational facilities, employment generation, fisheries, salinity control, pollution abatement, etc.

Replying to another question, Shekhawat said the government is implementing Jal Jeevan Mission - Har Ghar Jal, since August, 2019, in partnership with states, to make provision of potable tap water supply in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality and on regular and long-term basis to every rural household by 2024.