Union Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharti on Monday said that river linking of Sarda (or the Mahakali) river and the Yamuna, an offshoot of the agreement on Pancheswar between India and Nepal, which was revived last year, would end Delhi’s water woes and ensure drinking water to the capital for many years to come.
At a briefing on Monday, she said similarly a river linking project in Maharashtra involving the Damanganga and Pinjal would ensure drinking water supply to Mumbai till 2060. The 5600 MW Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project was proposed on river Mahakali known as Sarda, which forms the international boundary between India and Nepal. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed an agreement on the 5,600 MW Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project to restart the project, which was signed way back in 1996.
Ms. Bharti said the proposed Yamuna-Sarda river link would ensure a continuous flow in the Yamuna. The river would flow through Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and meet the Yamuna in New Delhi and also help in reducing water shortage. In addition, a Rs. 689-crore Yamuna Action Plan had also been finalised by the Ministry, she said.
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Three new dams had been proposed in Uttarakhand which would ensure irrigation in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and also address the reduced flow of the Yamuna. The government seems to be going ahead speedily on river linking and Ms. Bharti said there was a lot of progress on the Ken Betwa river link. She said public consultations had gone well and some people opposing it were sent back by local villagers who were believed to have said that this project will not cause any damage to the environment.
The government had achieved progress in two major river linking projects apart from the Damanganga Pinjal and Ken Betwa — this was the Par Tapi Narmada link. She said States had raised issues of submergence and rehabilitation but these could be addressed. She appealed to environment lovers to examine the issue in totality and bring objections to the ministry. It cannot be a fundamentalist approach against river linking, she added.