The Hindu : Task force on interlinking of rivers finalises action plan-I

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 29, 2003

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National

Task force on interlinking of rivers finalises action plan-I

By Gargi Parsai

New Delhi April 28. The Task Force on Interlinking of Rivers today finalised its action plan-I for eight links and sent it to the Prime Minister's Office for ``information and action''. The links involve Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Kerala.

Significantly, the task force, which held its third meeting here, did not spell out the finances that would be required for interlinking the links, saying the funds required would be known after the detailed project reports (DPR) were prepared.

No timeframe has been set for the preparation of the DPRs nor have any DPR been done so far. Normally pre-feasibility and feasibility studies precede formation of detailed project reports.

The links that were stated to have been `prioritised' are Mahanadi-Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Cauvery-Gundar-Vaigai peninsular link and seven independent links including Ken-Betwa, Parbati-Kalisindhi-Chambal, Dhamanganga-Pinjal, Par-Tapi-Narmada, Pamba-Achankovil-Vaippar, Bedti-Varda and Netravati-Hemavati links. The peninsular links would be taken up first.

However, feasibility studies for all these prioritised links are not complete yet, neither has political consensus been arrived at.

There are eight links (some of which overlap the prioritised links) for which `feasibility studies' have been done but which may not necessarily be a priority. The full proposal is for interlinking 30 Himalayan and Peninsular links at a cost of Rs. 460,000 crores over 10 years. The National Water Development Agency proposes to complete feasibility studies for all links by 2005, followed by DPRs in a year.

Briefing mediapersons, the Chairman of the Task Force, Suresh Prabhu, said discussions would be held with the States simultaneously for their acceptance of the links.

He said the DPRs would bring out the costs and benefits of each link from the point of view of environment, social and financial viability, the finances required, international and technical dimensions and political and stakeholders' angle.

According to him, the funds and the funding procedure were ``too premature'' a concept till the DPRs were ready. The World Bank was not approached for finances.

``The Ministry of Environment and Forests has given a list of pre-requisites to be incorporated and the costs would include environmental costs. A group was doing critical analysis of the links. All possible steps would be taken to incorporate the best technical advice,'' he said. The next meeting of the task force would be to decide on strategies for taking the priorities forward.

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