Budgetary, social and political limitations are delaying implementation of the National River Linking Project (NRLP), said International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) Secretary General A. B. Pandya.
Water and land were subjects within the jurisdiction of the States. So the implementation must be on a consensual basis, he said at the Water Summit India 2022, conducted by the Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, here on Saturday.
"Money (budget), and political and social constraints are very critical," he said. "There are differences in perceptions regarding water availability, construction of various reservoirs, and canal networks that are required to connect those waters. Because of that, the implementation has been going rather slow," he added.
Further, it was not necessary to link all the rivers in the country. "The major inter-basin routes have been identified and studied in detail. The Detailed Project Report, which will require investigation, estimation and clearances from the environmental bodies, will be taken up," he said.
"The special committee recommended by the Supreme Court to arrive at a consensus for the project is meeting regularly. The international consensus from Nepal and Bangladesh are also required for which the works are ongoing," he said.
He told The Hindu there should be a non-political techno-managerial panel formed by the government for water resource management just like there was one for GST. This could help with resource-related transactions, and monitoring. Climate change and water supply would soon shape the social and political patterns and so this initiative must be done at the earliest.
