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(Some of the contents in this article are
based on the information provided by S. KALYANARAMAN, Former Senior
Executive, Asian Development Bank in “The Hindu”)
In the recent past there are lots of hue and cry stressing the
need for inter-linking the rivers in the country. Water management
is perhaps the most serious problem facing the nation. One
would be surprised to note that the per capita availability of
water in India is among the best in the world. However, the utilizable
quantity is much less because of our dependence on monsoon. When
the monsoon fails we pity our inability to prevent the run-off
of water during high monsoons. Because of the fact that
85 to 90 per cent of the river run-offs occur during the four
monsoon months of a year, for the rest of the year we have nothing
but to manage this water for the whole year. Even during the monsoon
months, it is reported that the run-offs are uneven in the river
basins. Brahmaputra accounts for about twice the
amount of the run-offs in the Ganga during the monsoon
months. This situation impresses the need for a better design
criterion for efficient water management. The water storing and
transferring of surplus waters from the Brahmaputra river basin
to the Ganga and peninsular river basins should be given topmost
priority.
 Thanks
to the Tamilnadu Chief Minister’s arrogant but firm stance, that
perennial negotiation is not the way to solve the water crisis
in Tamilnadu, which forced her to approach the Supreme Court in
the Cauvery water issue, made the entire nation to wake up and
take stock of the long pending plan to inter-link the rivers flowing
across the country. Passing an interim order on a
public interest litigation, the Supreme Court ordered the Centre
to set up a task force to work out the modalities for inter-linking
of rivers within the next 10 years. Our President Dr. Abdul Kalam
stressed the urgency of this matter during his address to the
Nation on the eve of the Independence Day. The popular actor in
Tamilnadu Mr. Rajnikant started a People Movement (“Makkal
Iyakkam”) after fasting over Cauvery water issue. He is spreading
awareness amongst the people and also canvassing with the politicians
and the government to give top priority to this project.
If one learns any lesson from the way the Chinese government
acted on Yellow River and consequent benefits China derived
out of this project, and our own experience with linking our national
highways, we should link our rivers without any further delay.
The Centre is bothered about arriving at a consensus amongst the
states and also about the huge funding (approx. 3,30,000 crores)
that this project requires. The Centre argues that it would take
another 40 years for the completion of this project. However,
the Supreme Court advised the Centre to expedite this project
and complete the same within the next 10 years. It also makes
sense, as otherwise the inflation would add to the cost of the
project and would become a never-ending project. Split over 10
years, the funding requirement of this project per year would
be close to 30,000 crores. This annual outlay can be funded by
financial institutions such as ICICI, IDBI and banks, apart
from people's participation through subscriptions to Brahmaputra
and Sarasvati bonds/debentures. This arrangement will ensure
that the project outlays will not impact the government budget
outlays.
It is deplorable that a project for which there is no objection
and all concerned understand the necessity of it has been postponed
ever since our Independence. Any further delay would be unpardonable
and would cost the nation heavily. All the States should immediately
respond to the notice sent to them on this subject. In May 2000,
the then Minister for Water Resources, C.P. Thakur, made
a statement in the Rajya Sabha informing that “the Government
will soon take up a project to link six major rivers as part of
the long term plan to revive the Ganga-Cauvery link to tackle
the water problem in the country. The Ganga Cauvery project
as a whole would cost a whopping Rs. 3.30 lakh crores and
hence the Government proposed to take it up in stages and initially,
linking of six rivers would be taken up for which details were
being worked out." The country has the right to know what
actions had been taken in the last two and a half years since
the Minister made this statement in Rajya Sabha in May 2000.
On the Attorney General, Soli Sorabjee's submission on
negotiations and signing of agreement for consent of the affected
States, the Apex Court suggested passing a legislation under Entry
56 of List I of the Constitution in the Parliament. If such a
legislation is passed, it would mean the following: “Regulation
and development of inter-State rivers and river valleys to the
extent to which such regulation and development under the control
of the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient
in the public interest”. Once such legislation was made, the
need for consent would not arise and the Centre would be in a
position to undertake and complete this project.
In the coming week, we would discuss the advantages of this project,
objections to this project, and above all the urgency to implement
this project .
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