Interlinking of rivers key for water and food security: Rattan Lal Kataria

The minister of state for Jal Shakti says consensus on water sharing during the lean season between UP and MP likely to be arrived at soon

The Jal Shakti ministry is expecting to resolve issues such as building consensus on water sharing during the lean season between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh through a process of consultation and cooperation, Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Rattan Lal Kataria said on Monday. 

He added that most of the clearances for the Ken-Betwa link projects have been given and detailed project reports have been shared with the MP and UP government. Government is also holding discussions over the water sharing in the Par-Tapi-Narmada link project. 

The government has given cleared investment of Rs 4,900 crore in the Kosi-Mechi link project which is expected to provide relief to large swathes of north Bihar from the menace of floods and provide irrigation to over 214,000 hectares of command area, Kataria said. 

The minister said that the project will give a major lease of life to Bihar’s Seemanchal region. 

Addressing the 34th Annual General Meeting of the National Water Development Agency Society and 18th Meeting of the Special Committee for Interlinking of Rivers, Kataria said, “Interlinking of Rivers Programme is very important for enhancing water and food security of the country and would be very helpful in providing the resource to water-scarce, drought-prone and rain-fed farming areas.”

The meeting was attended by ministers of Water resources of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan along with water resources secretary and chairman of task force on interlinking of rivers, U P Singh.