‘Intra-river linking will lead to reduction in floods’

Union Water Resources Minister Nitin  Gadkari believes Chhattisgarh is among nine States where successful completion of intra-river linking projects  will lead to reduction in disaster during floods.

The projects would also lead to improved irrigation facilities, employment generation in  agriculture and increase in exports and decrease in migration from villages, he informed in a statement on Monday.

Notably, National Water Development Agency (NWDA) so far has received 47 proposals of intra-State links from 9 States viz. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.

Gadkari also suggested that it is high time to think about a proper legal mechanism to resolve inter-State and centre-State issues in ILR projects.

He added that river interlinking projects envisage that the surplus water available in Himalayan Rivers be transferred to the areas where water supply is not adequate in the Peninsular India.

However, huge quantities of water from several Peninsular rivers drain unutilised into the sea, and river interlinking projects are seriously looking at  transfer of this water to  water deficit areas of Peninsular India, he said.

Gadkari requested the ministers of various States including Chhattisgarh to identify the river basins which have surplus water availability in their States after meeting all demands, from where water can be transferred to deficit areas so that drought in those areas can be mitigated, agricultural production could be increased, resulting in the uplift of socio-economic profile of the society.

Gadkari  stressed on the need to develop consensus amongst the concerned states on interlinking of rivers so that the water draining unutilised into the sea could be utilised for the needy areas.

He called upon States to discuss and sort out issues through active consultation so that the projects can be implemented on priority.

Reiterating that the project for interlinking of rivers is very important for enhancing water and food security of the country and essential for providing water to drought prone and water deficit areas,  Gadkari said that steps have been taken for early implementation of five interlinking projects and Memorandum of Agreement for implementation of these projects is being finalised in consultation with the concerned State Governments.