Rivers inter-linking: Centre to take on board States’ concerns

March 01, 2012 04:17 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 02:56 am IST - New Delhi

With the Supreme Court asking the Centre to constitute a committee for inter-linking of rivers, the government on Thursday said the issue was high on its agenda but maintained that it cannot move ahead before taking States on board as water is a State subject.

“As far as the question of inter-linking is concerned, the government is seized of the matter and it is a priority for us. When it comes to the feasibility reports, these were prepared because the government is eager to do it,” Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told PTI in New Delhi.

But at the same time, Mr. Bansal stressed that water being a State subject, the Centre cannot move further without taking the States on board.

“It is a very difficult project. It is a difficult task to arrive at a consensus among States. They are reluctant to get into an immediate agreement on sharing of water. Also water is a State subject and we cannot impose anything on anyone.

“But we try to work, try to take the concerned States on board. Wherever there is a possibility on those linkages, we try to take them on board,” he said.

He said, out of 30 possible links identified, five projects were flagged as priority projects.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.