The central government is currently giving priority to five river interlinking projects, including the Godavari-Krishna and Dawan-Ganga-Pinjal schemes, a senior official said on Tuesday.
“There are a total of 30 river linking projects. We are now giving priority to five,” Central Water Commission Chairman A.K. Bajaj told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event here.
The five projects include Ken-Betwa rivers interlink between Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Par-Tapi-Narmada rivers and Dawan-Ganga-Pinjal rivers between Gujarat and Maharashtra, Chambal-Kali-Sindh rivers between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and Godavari-Krishna rivers between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Mr. Bajaj said.
According to him, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra have agreed to share water with other States, but States like Orissa and Chhattishgarh were raising some issues.
On India’s water sharing with other countries, Mr. Bajaj said, “Our country has water sharing treaties with all SAARC nations, except Sri Lanka.”
“Nepal is not sharing water with us, but Bhutan is pragmatic in water sharing as 50 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product comes from selling electricity,” Mr. Bajaj added.
