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Critical Topics and Their Significance for the UPSC CSE Examination on February 15, 2025

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River interlinking, the fount of environmental disaster

For Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

For Mains Examination: GS III - Environment & ecology

Context:

On December 25, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Ken-Betwa River Link Project, which aims to solve the water scarcity in the Bundelkhand region that covers parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The project also includes the construction of a dam located within the Panna Tiger Reserve, raising concerns about its submergence. Upon completion, this project will link the supposed water surplus Ken river with the Betwa in drought-stricken Bundelkhand — an area that had 58% forest cover in 1938

Read about:

Ken-Betwa River linking model

Panna Tiger reserve

Key Takeaways:

• This ₹45,000 crore project was initiated despite opposition from experts, including members of an empowered committee appointed by the Supreme Court of India, and bypassing laws that impose strict conditions on hydroelectric power projects. The idea of large-scale technological interventions to solve water-related challenges has gained traction. Politicians are increasingly promoting river interlinking as a geoengineering solution to India's ongoing water scarcity.
• The concept of inter-basin water transfer was first proposed 130 years ago by Sir Arthur Cotton, who designed irrigation dams in the Godavari and Krishna river valleys. This idea was later refined by M. Visvesvaraya, an early figure in Indian engineering, and further expanded by K.L. Rao and Captain Dinshaw J. Dastur in the 1970s and 1980s. Initially called the ‘National Water Grid’, the idea later evolved into the ‘River-Interlinking Project’ (ILR), which aims to transfer surplus water from the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers to water-deficient regions in central and southern India.
• The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) was set up in 1982 to carry out surveys, investigations, and prepare feasibility reports for the National Perspective Plan. The NWDA identified 30 potential links for further study, divided into 14 Himalayan and 16 Peninsular river links. These links are expected to help mitigate floods and droughts, improve rural income, and address agricultural water scarcity.
• The project’s estimated cost of ₹5.5 lakh crore does not account for social, environmental, or operational expenses, and the burden of these costs will ultimately fall on the public. The idea of linking rivers to connect surplus rivers with water-deficient ones is flawed, as it ignores the massive environmental costs and the eventual destruction of rivers and delta ecosystems.
• Human-induced disruptions in natural hydrographic systems will devastate ecological niches, leading to severe consequences for long-term societal well-being, which will be a grave disservice to future generations.
• Additionally, the impacts of climate change on rainfall and river flows could worsen the situation. It remains unclear how the country’s commitment to mitigating climate change aligns with its plans to manipulate rivers.
• Policymakers fail to understand that there is no “free” surplus water in rivers. Simple calculations that suggest tapping water “lost to the sea” overlook the eco-hydrological realities of the issue. Proponents of these projects disregard the river as an integral part of the drainage basin, including the deltaic plains and its interaction with the sea.
• The ecosystem services provided by free-flowing rivers include the flushing of silt from riverbeds into coastal waters to form deltas. Floodwater is not simply ‘surplus’; it plays a crucial role in land fertility, groundwater recharge, and maintaining biodiversity, which sustains the livel