River Interlinking| River Interlinking Project| Satluj| Yamuna| Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal| Inter-State River Interlinking| Kaveri| Tamil Nadu| Karnataka| Punjab| Haryana
The government had tried to push the river interlinking scheme in a big way. There are two types of interlinking. One is linking of a river of one State with the river of another State. For example, the Satluj-Yamuna link canal is bringing the water of the Satluj River in Punjab to the Yamuna River in Haryana. This is an inter-State river linking project where the water of one State is supplied another State. The second type of river interlinking is within a State. Two rivers within a State can be linked and water of one river can be transferred to another.
River Interlinking Project (Courtesy: Indian Water Portal)
The inter-State river linking is fundamentally not possible because water is a State subject under the Constitution and no State in the country is willing to let go of its water. We have large number of inter-state disputes, for example, between Punjab and Haryana regarding the Satluj; and between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka regarding the Kaveri River. Karnataka wants more share of Kaveri water and Tamil Nadu wants more. In such a situation to think that one State will give more water to another State through an interlinking project is pure foolishness. So inter-State linking is not going to happen.
Ken-Betwa Inter-State River Interlinking (Courtesy: The Indian Express)
Intra-State River Linking| State Government
But river within a State could possibly be linked. We can have a State Government which can shift the water of one river of the State to another river of the State. The potential for such interlinking is very limited.
Irrigation| Flood Water| Groundwater Recharge| Groundwater Aquifers
The main purpose of river interlinking is to transfer the flood water of one river to the deficit of another river. This means that we are thinking that the flood is a problem and that the flood water is actually surplus. That is not correct. When flood water spreads on large area then it percolates into the ground, recharges groundwater and is used for irrigation. So, if we reduce the floods, the water will spread less, groundwater recharge will be less and availability of water for irrigation will be less.
Picture of flood water spreading
So by transferring water form one river to another river we are reducing the irrigation in the donor river while increasing it in the recipient river. The net impact on is still unknown.
Water Recharge Techniques| Check Dams| Recharge Wells| River Unique Quality| River Ecology| Benefits from Floods| Water Harvesting| Water Harvesting Structures|
The purpose of river interlinking is to increase the availability of water in dry areas. There are other technologies available for recharging ground water in deficit areas. Instead of bringing water from another area, it is much cheaper and simpler to make water harvesting structures like check dams, recharge wells and put the available water in that area into the wells of that area.
India’s Groundwater Aquifers (Courtesy: Science Direct)
Every river has its unique ecological footprint. A particular type of fishes live in each river, a particular type of plants grows there and the water of a river has its own quality. When we transfer the water of one river to another we are creating an ecological conflict. We are transferring water of river, let us say which grows Plant A, to the river that grows Plant B. Therefore we are not being sensitive to the special ecology of every river.
We of course have the problem of acquiring large amount of lands, rehabilitation and so many other factors in implementing these projects. Therefore we should totally abstain from river interlinking. Instead we should try to increase the benefits from floods by actively promoting groundwater recharge in the flood areas and also improve the ground water recharge in the deficit areas by building water harvesting structures. The solution of the country’s water problem lies in water harvesting and ground water recharge. It does not lie in fighting over the small amount of river water.
Therefore this is our request to our government that take quick decision to stop these river linking projects as soon as possible, which are more harmful for our environment, ecosystems and economic matters.
