PM making efforts to help TN on Cauvery, says EPS

While the ruling AIADMK and all other Opposition parties except the BJP are criticising the Union Government for not doing anything to constitute the Cauvery  Management Board, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy himself declared on Sunday that efforts were on by the Narendra Modi Government to transfer the floodwaters of Godavari River to Cauvery.

Speaking at Salem, his home constituency, Palaniswamy said that the Centre has proposed the linking of Godavari and Cauvery rivers to ‘facilitate optimum utilisation of surplus water going waste into the sea’. ‘I had discussions with the Prime Minister as well as Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari in this regard. Tamil Nadu will get 125 TMC ft water once the Godavari is linked to Cauvery,’ said the chief minister.

He also revealed that Godavari, flowing through the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh would reach the Mayannoor barrage in Karur district of Tamil Nadu. “This will benefit farmers in the districts of  Namakkal, Salem and Tiruchirppalli” said Palaniswamy.

Linking of Godavari with Cauvery is part of the major project of inter-linking the major rivers of the country through a network of canals, dams and barrages. A task force headed by Suresh Prabhu (Union Minister for Commerce and Industries) had chalked out a project report to inter-link the major rivers and had submitted it to the Vajpayee-headed NDA Government in 2004. Since the BJP was defeated in the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the report submitted by Prabhu has been getting dusted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made it known that the water scarcity in the country could be addressed only by  inter-linking the major rivers. For decades, India has been facing the problem of simultaneous drought and flood at the  same time.

Sanjeev Kumar Balian has stated in Rajya Sabha in November 2016 that the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) had identified 16 links in peninsular India and this included Mahanadi -Godavari -Krishna -Pennar -Palar -Cauvery -Vaigai - Gundar linkage. Since the Government of Odisha had reservations against the project because of its fear of submergence of vast tract of land , the plan was held up.

But Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Water Resources, has stated in November 2017 that the concerns of Odisha have been sorted out. ‘We will connect Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, the tributaries. That will solve our problems up to Tamil Nadu . Funding is not an issue.  We will double our irrigation potential,’ Gadkari had told reporters.

A research paper authored by leading hydrologist PM Natarajan and senior IAS officer Sambhu Kallolikar had stated that during a normal monsoon year, India wastes into the sea 1263 billion cubic meters (BCM) of precious water. ‘During normal monsoon itself, Godavari discharges 300 TMC (thousand million cubic meter) flood water into the sea per day. Mettur Dam in Tamil Nadu could be filled to capacity in nine hours with a portion of the flood waters in Godavari River,’ Natarajan told The Pioneer on Monday quoting from his paper.

S Kalyanaraman, director, Saraswathi Research Centre, Chennai, said that the Godavari-Cauveri link was thoroughly studied by the NWDA and it was a win-win proposition for all stakeholders. ‘This is going to be a game changer as all inter-state water disputes would die a natural death with the linking of the major peninsular rivers,’ said Kalyanaraman , a formed banker with Asian Development Bank.