On his first visit to Bundelkhand, Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh announced that the Ken-Betwa river linking project, the first of its kind proposed in India, was a disastrous idea and should not be pursued.
“I say very strongly that it would be disastrous to link the two rivers and my ministry will never give the required environmental clearance to this,” Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu.
The ambitious project, estimated to cost over Rs.9000 crore, is expected to be included in the 12th Five-Year Plan, starting April next.
Interestingly, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had earlier instructed the Water Resources ministry to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment of the project.
In the past, Mr. Ramesh and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi have, on several occasions, expressed their concern about the potentially negative fallouts of river-linking projects.
The Minister also said that he was “all for a separate Bundelkhand state as it would result in better administration and governance.”
Visits Panna reserve
Mr. Ramesh visited the Panna Tiger Reserve and said that he was satisfied by the reserve's management.
“This is the first time that I have come to visit a tiger reserve in the State and I chose Panna because it has been facing difficult times and it is situated in a difficult terrain.”
“However, I am happy with how the park is being run now. We need to focus more on tourism to ensure better livelihood for people of the region,” he said.
Mr. Ramesh said the Ministry would provide Rs.200 crore to the State government for the several “Village Relocation Programmes,” to be undertaken for the setting up of buffer zones in all tiger reserves in the country.
