River inter-linking must be scientific, not political: Jaggi

Spiritual guru Jaggi Vasudev today said inter-linking of rivers in the country should be done "scientifically" and not for "political and emotional reasons".
"When we talk about inter-linking of rivers, it must be done taking the science into consideration. We should not do it emotionally or for political reasons," Vasudev, the founder of Isha Foundation, said this evening in a press conference held at Mantralaya here.
The Isha Foundation today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chhattisgarh government's Water Resources Department (WRD) as a part of its nationwide campaign for protecting rivers.
Vasudev, along with WRD Minister Brijmohan Agrawal, addressed reporters after the agreement was signed.

Responding to a query on the concept of river inter-linking, he said the exercise cannot be carried out for all rivers.
"There is a science to this (interlinking rivers). There are certain rivers which can be linked, which will be beneficial especially for flood mitigation...It will be very usefulprocess, but all rivers in India are not fit to be linked," he said.

He said Indian rivers are not like European or north American rivers.
"Because in Europe, for example, the average rainfall is around 225 days in a year and they have at least 10-15 inches of snow that sits there for two to three months.

"Our (India's) average rainfall is just 40 to 45 days and this is a tropical land which is thirsty and drinks up a lot of water," he said.
Giving details of the MoU, Vasudev said at least 10 crore saplings will be plantedacross the one km radius of water bodies, mainly rivers, in the next one year in Chhattisgarh.
"We have signed the MoU towards creating vegetation along water bodies that we have in Chhattisgarh beside major rivers," he said.
As a part of the agreement, technical guidance will also be given to the state government on a voluntary basis, he added.

"This responsibility--that the way this land and rivers were given to us by our parents---we must be able to hand it over at least in that condition, if not in a better condition, to our children," the spiritual guru said.
He also stressed strengthening tributaries of major rivers to protect the mainstream rivers.
Brijmohan Agrawal also expressed commitment towork together with the foundation to save and revitalise rivers flowing through Chhattisgarh.