The Supreme Court of India has in its judgment of 27 February 2012 on the interlinking of rivers project, given categorical directions to the Executive Government to implement the ‘project’ as a whole in a time bound manner and has also asked the Centre to appoint a Special Committee to work out the modalities and oversee the implementation of the project. Prominent experts, concerned citizens and neighboring countries have raised concerns over the recent judgement and have urged the Supreme Court to put this order on hold and reconsider the matter.
The larger context and the history of this grand project proposal has remained controversial ever since it was conceived.
The notion of interlinking of rivers in the subcontinent is an old one and way back in the 19th Century, Sir Arthur Cotton had devised a plan to link south Indian rivers for inland navigation. The idea was implemented only partially and did not thrive.
The earliest suggestions for developing a national water grid to transfer the surplus water available in an area to water deficit areas was proposed by Dr K L Rao in 1972. It comprised of a 2640 km long Ganga-Cauvery link as its main component and involved large scale pumping over a head of 550 m. This was essentially irrigation cum hydropower project and did not have flood control benefits.
The power requirement for lifting the water was estimated to be between 5000 to 7000 MW, and the additional area to be irrigated was around 4 million hectares. At 2002 price level, the project would have cost about Rs. 1,50,000 crores. The Central Water Commission had rejected the proposal on grounds of gross underestimation and for being economically prohibitive.
The other proposal which attracted considerable attention was the “Garland Canal” put forth by Captain Dastur in 1977. It proposed the construction of two canals (a) Himalayan Canal of 4200 km along the foot of the Himalayas from Ravi in the West to the Brahmaputra and beyond in the east; and (b) Garland Canal of 9300 km spanning the central and southern parts of India, with both the canals integrated with numerous lakes and interconnected with pipelines at two points, Delhi and Patna. The cost would have worked out to around 70 million crores at 2002 price levels.
The proposal was rejected by two Committees of Experts (composed of experts from Central Water Commission, State Governments, Indian Institute of Technology, Geological Survey of India and Indian Meteorological Department) on grounds of technical infeasibility.
In 1980, the Ministry of Water Resources formulated a National Perspective Plan for water resources development by transferring water from water surplus basins to water deficit basins/regions by interlinking of rivers and the National Water Development Agency was subsequently set up in 1982 to carry out surveys of the links and undertake feasibility studies.
The National Perspective Plan had two main components i.e. the Himalayan Rivers Development and Peninsular Rivers Development. The National Water Development Agency has, after carrying out detailed studies, identified 30 links (14 Himalayan rivers in the north and 16 peninsular rivers in the south) for preparation of feasibility reports and has prepared feasibility reports of 6 such links.
The benefit of this scheme was pegged at “addition of 35-37 million hectares of irrigated land, generation of 34,000 million kilowatts of electricity and increased navigational efficiency apart from controlling floods and eliminating chances of drought.” (Avinash Kalla, River linking, South Asian, 2004)
"This initiative to link many of India’s domestic and transnational rivers follows from the official interest in pursuing big projects for big solutions, a continuation of the canal-dam/food-power paradigm that began in colonial irrigation schemes and continued through twentieth century development projects."(Kelly D Alley, India's river linking plan: History and debates, 2008)
The National Commission on Integrated Water Resource Development had on the other hand in its report in 1999 observed that optimal utilization of land and water should be aimed at fully exploiting intra-basin surpluses before considering inter-basin transfers.
“The Commission had after a careful examination of the water balances in the various basins, observed that there was no imperative need for massive water transfers. The assessed needs could be met with more efficient utilization of intra-basin resources, except in case of Cauvery and Vaigai basins where limited water transfers could take place by transferring water from Godavari River.” ( Vandana Asthana, A C Shukla, Anatomy of interlinking rivers in India: A decision in doubt, ACDIS Occasional Paper, 2008).
The project was resurrected by the Government in 2002 after lying in cold storage for several years when the Supreme Court converted an application for a mandamus on the subject of interlinking of rivers into a writ petition for the purpose of delivering a judgement.
The Bench headed by the then Chief Justice B N Kirpal had made an ‘observation’ on October 31, 2002 that the Government may take steps on interlinking certain major rivers of the country by the year 2012. “Common people are taught to accept the verdict of the court as ultimate, conscientious, constitutional, legal, and beyond question. The river interlinking project therefore became a fait accompli.” (ibid)
Despite the National Commission on Integrated Water Resource Development’s report political pressures gave a fillip to the interlinking proposal. "Today, the river-linking plan responds directly to opportunities available through global financing to design large-scale projects that address large-scale problems." (Kelly D Alley, India's river linking plan: History and debates, 2008)
With a view to bringing about a consensus among the States and to provide guidance on norms of appraisal of individual projects and modalities for project funding etc., the Central Government set up a Task Force headed by Suresh Prabhu to expedite matters in 2002.
This sparked a national debate and civil society groups pointed out the grave ecological consequences and the economic imprudence (estimated to cost Rs 5,60,000 crores) of this much hyped gargantuan exercise. The various basin States expressed divergent views about the studies and feasibility reports prepared by National Water Development Agency.
The hydrologic viability and the very concept of surplus and deficit rivers was challenged by environmentalists like Vandana Shiva. Questions were also raised regarding the feasibility of the scheme under the current constitutional set up.
“The scheme has the potential to cause large and irreparable damage on a scale that is unimaginable. There would be loss of biodiversity, reduction in downstream flows, damage to fisheries and wildlife, displacement of people, conflicts over water sharing and pressure created on land by cubic tonnes of water that might cause seismic tremors.” (Avinash Kalla, 2004)
According to a paper by SANDRP "Interlinking of rivers in India: Dimensions of social impact" the most elaborate estimates on displacement due to interlinking of rivers is by Rainer Horig. His estimates are based on the assumption that interlinking of rivers has 60 large dams; these dams would displace between 7.93 to 22.25 lakh people and will submerge 5875 to 15375 sq km land. (Water Management on a Grand Scale: India’s Programme of Interlinking of Rivers, Reuters Foundation Paper No. 260, July 2005)
Furthermore, the plan will need 20 lakh hectares for the canal network and will need at least 1.04 lakh hectares of forest land. [2007 figures, pers comm with Parineeta Dandekar, SANDRP]
SANDRP pointed out in the paper that “there is sufficient case to show that interlinking of rivers is neither desirable, nor necessary and we have less expensive options for taking care of justifiable water needs of the 21st century.”
In the face of opposition from the States and the citizenry the project did not find much favour with the current regime and the grand idea remained dormant for a while. However it acquired prominence from time to time, particularly in the context of the Cauvery dispute. The Government in the meanwhile continued the work on individual cases of interlinking often without socio-economic and environmental impacts study.
Interestingly, newspaper reports of October 2009 suggest that the Centre was considering shelving the river-linking project [Centre to shelve river-linking project]. The Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest, Jairam Ramesh had declared that the project would be a “human, ecological and economic disaster for the country”.
In the current, and final, judgement on interlinking of rivers, the Supreme Court has issued clear and firm directions to go ahead with the project. A number of eminent people/civil society groups have written both against as well as in favour of the judgement. An attempt has been made in the section below to present the contrasting views on the topic.
The judgement is based on a report of the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and the recommendations of a Standing Committee of Parliament.
The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) had conducted a study on the economic impact of interlinking of rivers programme in 2008. The conclusions/ recommendations include various benefits of interlinking of river programme such as additional benefits of irrigation & power, increase in growth rate of agriculture, growth of direct & indirect employment, improvement in the quality of life of people in rural areas and mitigation of floods & drought.
The recommendations also include certain action points like setting up National Commission for Basin Management, improving cost recovery from irrigation projects & formation of Water Users Association.
The Minister of State for Water Resources, Vincent H Pala had in written reply to a question on the NCAER report in the Lok Sabha in September 2011 stated that “At present, no interlinking project under National Perspective Plan (NPP) is under implementation. Therefore, the stage has not come for taking decision on the action points suggested in the report.” [View NCAER report here]
Also, the report of the Standing Committee on Water Resources that deals with the action taken by the Government on the recommendations and observations contained in their Eleventh Report on “Interlinking of rivers” was presented to Lok Sabha in October 2008. The Committee suggested a time-bound programme for completion of the detailed project proposals of the identified links.
The Committee also stated that it would like to be informed of the status of proposed establishment of the Irrigation and Water Resources Finance Corporation (IWRFC) and its role in funding the projects under interlinking of rivers. The Committee reiterated its earlier recommendation that the Government should ask the IWRFC to raise funds through issue of bonds or other suitable instruments for the projects under interlinking of rivers so that the benefits expected from the interlinking programme accrue at the earliest. [View report here]
Speaking in favour of the judgement, strategic writer,
A lot of people have voiced their concerns regarding the Supreme Court judgement. A public statement has been issued by concerned
The project is at variance with the growing recognition that it is necessary to move away from the long-standing engineering tradition of a supply-side response to a projected or imagined demand, and towards restraining the growth of competitive unsustainable demand for water in all uses. Careful, economical, conflict-free and sustainable intra-basin management should come first, and bringing water from elsewhere should be the last recourse. [View statement here]
In an EPW article titled “Interlinking of rivers project: A disquieting judgement -
Following the discussions on the propriety of the judicial judgement and on the project, the author hopes that some doubt has been planted among the concerned judges, which will cause them to put the order on hold.
SANDRP counters this as “one can arrive at such a conclusion only if one does complete options assessment including rainwater harvesting, watershed development, groundwater recharge, local water systems, optimum use of existing water infrastructure, improving water use efficiency, optimising cropping patterns, optimizing cropping methods, demand side measurements, recycling where feasible… But none of the National Water Development Agency's water balance studies involve such an exercise for a single basin or sub-basin in India. In fact the Union or any of the State Ministry of Water Resources has never done such a study for any basin or sub basin in India.” [Download the issue of Dams, River and People here]
An article in Frontline by
The article "Flawed vision" by
An article in Frontline by
The implementation of the interlinking of rivers project has raised Bangladeshi concerns. The “issue requires an understanding of the hydrology, ecology, environment, and socio-political ramification for all stakeholders in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin… The Indian Supreme Court’s recent verdict to implement the interlinking of rivers project has added an additional element to the list of unresolved issues between India and Bangladesh with regard to water resources management in shared rivers. The people of Bangladesh have expressed their disappointment in various news media over the proposed Tipaimukh dam, lack of Teesta water sharing treaty, and the failure to implement the Ganges Treaty over the last 15 years. This new development (or re-surfacing of the old concept from 2002) on interlinking of river project in India is a matter of concern.” (
An article in EPW “Teesta, Tipaimukh and river linking: Danger to Bangladesh-India relations” by
As we can see above, the project remains highly controversial. Do you think that the proposal on interlinking of rivers will be successful in addressing water issues in India? Please let us know your reactions and suggestions by leaving a message in the comments section below
Avinash Kalla (2004), On the waterfront: River linking project could be an environmental nightmare, South Asian
Kelly D Alley (2008), India's river linking plan: History and debates
Vandana Asthana, A C Shukla (2008), Anatomy of interlinking rivers in India: A decision in doubt, ACDIS Occasional Paper
SANDRP (2007), Interlinking of rivers in India: Dimensions of social impact
Rainer Horing (2005), Water Management on a Grand Scale: India’s Programme of Interlinking of Rivers, Reuters Foundation Paper No. 260
Centre to shelve river-linking project, Assam Tribune, 2009
Radhey Shyam Goel (2012), Challenges, prospects and conflict management for vitally needed inter-linking of rivers in India - Critical review of basic objectives, controversies, social & ecological impacts, India Water Portal
Brahma Chellaney (2012), Linking Rivers, Jagran Post
Ramaswamy Iyer (2012), Interlinking of rivers project: A disquieting judgement - Ramaswamy Iyer's perspective in the EPW on the recent Supreme Court decision, EPW VolXLVII No.16
Jayanta Bandyopadhyay (2012), Water Science in India: Hydrological Obscurantism, EPW VolXLVII No.16
V Venkatesan (2012), Mission Impossible, Frontline, Volume 29 - Issue 07
T K Rajalakshmi (2012), Building on sand, Frontline, Volume 29 - Issue 07
Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashashta (2012), Flawed vision, Frontline, Volume 29 - Issue 07
Dinesh Kumar Mishra (2012), Resuscitating a Failed Idea: Notes from Bihar, EPW VolXLVII No.16
R Krishnakumar (2012), Fragile ecosystems, Frontline, Volume 29 - Issue 07
V Venkatesan (2012), Listen to experts, Frontline, Volume 29 - Issue 07
Imtiaz Ahmed (2012), Teesta, Tipaimukh and River Linking: Danger to Bangladesh-India Relations, EPW VolXLVII No.16
NCAER (2008), Economic impact of interlinking of rivers programme
Lok Sabha Secretariat (2010), Interlinking of rivers - Third report of the Standing Committee on Water Resources (2009-1010)
V Venkatesan (2012), Gigantic challenge, Frontline, Volume 29 - Issue 07
Venkitesh Ramakrishnan (2012), Political divide, Frontline, Volume 29 - Issue 07
Md. Khalequzzaman (2012), Implementation of the interlinking of rivers project and Bangladeshi concerns, India Water Portal