Date:11/12/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/12/11/stories/2002121100531003.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Linking rivers

Sir, — The Centre's resolve to link all major rivers is a rejection of the decentralised-level water harvesting technologies which can meet legitimate needs at cheaper costs. It is a denial of the potential of percolation tanks, which could cope with successive years of drought by preserving water underground, in an evaporation-free condition. This is surrender to the demands of large landholders who want to cultivate a series of high water-demanding crops — unsuitable to their soil and climatic conditions, and unmindful of the nutritional needs of society. This project is fraught with ecological disaster and unprecedented economic and human costs.

S.N. Ghosh,

New Delhi