Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Linking rivers

Sir, — The series of excellent articles, `Interlinking rivers will be a disaster' and `Ecological deficits: An economic toll' (both Oct. 20) and `Interlinking of rivers' and `Drought as teacher' (both Oct. 22), read in conjunction, are revealing.

One should avoid the lure of mega projects which extend into an uncertain future and commit the coming generations. Though labour-intensive, the politician-contractor nexus would sap the nation's vitality. The need is for an integrated, optimum utilisation of surface and groundwater resources. Desilting lakes, ponds and percolation tanks would facilitate surface water storage at lesser costs. Indiscriminate drilling, as if the earth were just a pin-cushion, should be curtailed. Water-hungry crops must be limited. Adequate price support for dry cultivation is essential.

The Cauvery conflict can be relegated to history if there is a judicious approach to the problem of water utilisation. A worshipful attitude towards its preservation and utilisation is the need of the hour.

A.S. Nagarajan,

Polur, T.N.

* * *

Sir, — The articles `Interlinking rivers will be a disaster' and `Interlinking of rivers' are quite interesting despite their diametrically opposite contents. The former reflects the approach of generalists whereas the latter projects technical considerations from the time the Ganga-Cauvery link proposal was envisaged towards beneficial channelling of water from the surplus basins, that cause havoc year after year, to cater to the requirements of water-starved regions.

The situation being faced now with regard to the quantum of water that needs to be released by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu would have been obviated had the Centre nationalised the rivers, a pre-requisite for interlinking work with water management and regulatory powers entrusted to a statutory authority.

The defining moment has arrived for the Centre to implement the commitment made in the Rajya Sabha more than a couple of years ago on interlinking of rivers.

Syed Gowher Ali,

Chennai

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Rhetoric and reality
• For investors' benefit
• De-freezing Kashmir
• For a national judicial commission - I
• Seizing the moment...
• Address real cause
• Linking rivers
• Tackling terrorism

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu