River Narmada will be an important component in the Par-Tapi-Narmada link
The Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Gujarat have signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on May 3, 2010 for two river-linking projects in the two States. The MoUs were signed in the presence of the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as well as the Union Minister of Water Resources Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal.
The PM congratulated the two CMs and said that the development of water resources in an integrated manner was the need of the hour. He also emphasised on the need for adoption of various short term and long term measures.
This development can be seen as a boost for the River-Linking Project that hasn't seen any action for a really long time. In fact, even the PM remarked that the signing of the MoUs between Maharashtra and Gujarat will strengthen people's belief in the continuation of the River-Linking Project.
What the MoUs entail: The MoUs refer to the Par-Tapi-Narmada and the Damangaga-Pinjal links which are part of the west-flowing rivers' inter-linking scheme.
The Memoranda says among other things that Detailed Project Reports(DPRs) for the joint inter-linking river water management would be prepared before May 1, 2011. The Par-Tapi-Narmada link will transfer surplus waters available between rivers Par and Tapi in Gujarat to the deficit areas of North Gujarat.
It will transfer 1350 million cubic metres through a 402Km long canal by gravity. The total enroute irrigation benefits envisaged are 1.88 lakh hectares in Gujarat. Besides, there is also a provision of generation of 32,5 MW of electricity. Maharashtra will benefit from the Damangaga-Pinjal link through augmentation of water supply for Mumbai city. The Gujarat Government would be entitled to utilizing remaining spilling over waters from the Bhugal and Khargihill dams in this link. Waters of the rivers Par, Purna, Oranga, Ambica and Damanganga would be part of this inter-linking project and benefit both the States.
Similar MoUs: In 2005, Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh had signed an MoU for the Ken-Betwa link in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and his Rajasthan counterpart signed MoUs for implementing the Parbati, Kali Sindh and Chambal link. No work on ground has yet started for these two links.
About the River Linking Project: The National River Linking Project (NRLP) was formulated in 1980 with the aim of reducing water shortages in western and southern India while mitigating the impacts of recurrent floods in the eastern parts of the Ganga basin. An autonomous organization National Water Development Agency (NWDA) was set up for implementation. If implemented, the NRLP will be one of the biggest interbasin water transfer projects globally. To the critics of the NRLP, the project is based on inadequate analysis of India's water futures.
Moreover they feel that economic, social and environmental costs outweigh the project benefits. In this light, it would be interesting to see the next step of the MoUs. The infrastructure industry will have to closely follow the action as it will be the actual implementor of the projects.
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