Despite the UPA government putting up a brave face on the execution of the multi-crore rivers inter-linking project
NEW DELHI: Despite the UPA government putting up a brave face on the execution of the multi-crore rivers inter-linking project, it remains a non-starter as barely five of the proposed 30 links in the Himalayan and peninsular regions are in different stages of planning. There is no mention about the remaining as yet.
The Rs560-thousand-crore project, to be completed in 15 years, is currently stuck among the squabbling states, as the Centre has almost no say in the matter with water being a state subject.
The Centre has been sending repeated reminders to the warring states to sign the MoUs on the interlinking projects proposed by them. Despite possessing 16 feasibility reports about the different links, the progress on the projects is negligible.
Out of the five links under consideration Parbati-Kalisindi-Chambal (Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh) is caught in the vortex of “bilateral discussion”.
Despite repeated reminders by water resources minister Saifuddin Soz, no headway has been made.
The minister sent his latest letter dated April 16, 2008 asking the chief ministers of the two states to “expedite the concurrence”. All that the states have responded was that a meeting between their officials is slated to take place at the earliest.
The detailed project report for the Ken-Betwa link between UP and Madhya Pradesh is in the pipeline for past three years.
Soz is still hopeful that it will be completed by the end of this year. Justifying the delay in completing the DPR, Soz said it involved the study of entire gamut of factors particularly relating to environment protection.
Some headway has been made in Par-Tapi-Narmada and Damanganga-Pinjal river links involving Gujarat and Maharashtra. After great persuasion by the Centre over the years, they have agreed to sign the MoU. The fifth link namely Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijaywada) link involving Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Chhattisgarh is under discussion.
What intrigues the Centre is the fact that the some of the states have been reluctant to proceed further despite having volunteered to send inter-linking proposals. Maharashtra tops the list with 15 proposals followed by Bihar (6), Jharkhand (3) and Gujarat and Orissa one each.
The river interlinking has been divided into two parts, Himalayan and Peninsular. There are 14 links in the first category and 16 in the latter. However, due to sensitivity and strategic importance of the Himalayan region, this area has still not been touched by the water resources ministry.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}