Water is one of the most important natural resources, and the development of a particular region depends upon the availability of water to a great extent.

However, many areas in India do not have access to river water naturally. Hence, India started river linking projects to make river water available to areas that don’t have access to river water

What is River Linking?
River linking is a project of linking two or more rivers to form an artificial network and create a reservoir that will help provide river water to areas where it’s not accessible and make the water usage that would otherwise flow into the sea.
Interlinking of Rivers in India: A brief history

The idea of interlinking rivers was first mooted by the Chief Engineer of the Madras Presidency in 1919, Sir Arthur Cotton.

This idea was revisited in 1960 by the then Minister of State for Energy and Irrigation, KL Rao, who proposed to link rivers Ganga and Cauvery.

The National Water Development Agency was established by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1982.

In 2002, the Supreme Court asked the government to finalize a plan for interlinking rivers by 2003 and execute it by 2016.

In 2014, the Ken-Betwa River Linking Project got Cabinet approval. However, the project is yet to take off because of the opposition faced by the government chiefly from environmentalists.

National River Linking Project (NRLP)
This project envisages the transfer of water from the water-excess basin to the water-deficient basin by interlinking many rivers of India by a network of almost 3000 storage dams. This will form a gigantic South Asian water grid.

There are three components to this project:
1. Himalayan Component
2. Peninsular Component
3. Intrastate linking


Himalayan Component of NRLP
Under the Himalayan component of the NRLP, there are 14 projects in the pipeline


Peninsular Component of NRLP
This component of the NRLP envisages the linking of the 37 rivers of southern India.

Intrastate Linking:
The Intrastate linking envisages 16 projects

The advantages of river interlinking projects:
• Irrigation
The river interlinking project makes water available to areas with shortages and makes agriculture possible in such areas of India.
• Prevention of Flood
The areas that frequently experience flood-like situations can benefit from the river linking project. The excess water from those areas could be drained and taken away from the rivers of those areas to avoid overflow and floods.
• Benefits for drought areas
For the areas that experience frequent droughts and water shortages, interlinking is to provide water that is drained out of flood-prone areas.

The disadvantages of river interlinking projects:
• Many dams and reservoirs will have to be constructed for the river interlinking project, and the land in which they are constructed will turn swampy and will no longer be suitable for agriculture.

• The construction sites of dams and reservoirs will experience a shortage of food grains and agricultural goods since that area is no longer left fit for agriculture.

Despite the many advantages and disadvantages that are associated with the river interlinking project, it is yet to take off because of multiple challenges and both the central and state governments need to consider alternative ways to arrive at a solution.

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