Perspective Plan on river linking formulated: Minister

A National Perspective Plan (NPP) aimed at transferring water from surplus to deficit river basins has been formulated.

The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has identified 30 links under the NPP, Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Santosh Kumar Gangwar said Monday.

"Based on the concurrence of the concerned states, three links - namely Ken-Betwa link, Damanganga-Pinjal link and Par-Tapi-Narmada link - have been taken up for the preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) by the NWDA out of 30 interstate links identified under NPP," Gangwar informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

The DPR for Ken-Betwa and Damanganga-Pinjal links has been completed by the NWDA.

He said that NWDA has further received 46 proposals of intra-state links from nine states.

"Of these, the Burhi Gandak-Noon-Baya-Ganga link of Bihar, Kosi-Mechi link of Bihar, Ponnair-Palar link of Tamil Nadu, Wainganga-Nalganga link of Maharashtra, and Barakar-Damodar-Subernarekha link of Jharkhand have also been taken up for the preparation of DPR by the NWDA on the request made by the concerned states," Gangwar said.