Interlinking Rivers in India

- From Dream to Reality

University of Maryland, College Park, MD / Feb 21
st
, 2004
Rivers for Life
What is the Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) project?

Aims to transfer water
from water-surplus to
water-deficit rivers.

Links 37 rivers through 30
links (14 Himalayan, 16
Peninsular)

Canals, large and medium
dams
Claimed Benefits
Flood and drought mitigation
Irrigation of 35 million hectares
Drinking water
34,000 MW power
Inland navigation
Ecological upgradation
Employment generation
National integration

1972 - Ganga Cauvery Link Canal
K.L.Rao, Former union minister of state for
power and irrigation
2640 km link from Ganga near Patna
Needed a large pumping facility
Rejected on techno-economic grounds
1977 Garland Canal
Captain Dastur
4200 km Himalayan canal, 9300 km Southern
Garland Canal
Connection through pipeline at Patna
Rejected as impractical and infeasible
What followed was.
1982: National Water Development Agency (NWDA) set
up to study inter basin transfer schemes.

1999: National Commission on Integrated Water
Resources Development reviews NWDA studies

Aug 2002: Independence Day Speech by President Kalam

Oct 2002: Supreme Court ruling in a PIL recommending
Interlinking by 2012

Nov 2002: 6 Feasibility studies completed

Dec 13 2002: Task Force set up to accomplish interlinking
by 2016
Status of ILR
Estimated cost: Rs. 5,60,000 crores (or more)
Announced Project Timeline:
- Completion of feasibility studies by 2005
- Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) by 2006
- Implementations of the projects by 2016
Status: Completed water balance studies of 137
basins/sub basins, pre-feasibility studies of all 30
links and feasibility studies of 8 links.
Two Links to begin in 2004
I n the end, we only conserve what we love
We will only love what we understand.
- Baba Dioum, Senegalese poet
UNDERSTANDING RIVERS
Much more than a Water Channel
A river system includes
Streams and rivulets flowing into river
Sediments carried and deposited
Pools and wetlands on the floodplain
Living organisms forming a food web
Deltas and estuaries

It is a complex eco-system!
"A river is the report card for its
watershed."
- Alan Levere
What is a watershed?
A River Basin Map of Andhra Pradesh
Cant step twice into the same river
- Understanding the Flow Pattern
Source: Rivers for Life by Sandra Postel
Natural Low Flow
- Sustains aquatic life
- Maintains water table
- Soil moisture for trees
- Maintains river channel



Natural Flood
- Floodplain Recharge
- Silt Deposit
- Flushes channel
- Bounty for river life
Source: Rivers for Life by Sandra Postel
Dammed Low Flow
- Aquatic life suffers
- Trees wilt
- Water table recedes
Absence of Flood
- No recharge
- Soil loses fertility
- Trees encroach
- River life stagnates
Source: Rivers for Life by Sandra Postel
How a river comes to life!

Rajasthan The driest state in India

The Story of Arvari

Courtesy: Tarun Bharat Sangh,
Centre for Science and Environment
Source: Arvari

Having understood rivers
Water Cycle
River basin and Watershed
Flow cycles
Role of floods and low flow
How do we manage our rivers?
QUESTIONING
Core assumption & Claimed benefits
This is too important a matter to be left entirely
to the internal processes of the government
-Ramaswamy I yer,
Former Secretary, Ministry for Water Resources
Core Assumption
Rivers can be clearly classified as water-
surplus and water-deficit, and they can
be equalized through water transfer.
Flood-prone = Water-surplus?
Drought-prone = Water-deficit?
Permanent water-surplus and water-
deficit areas?

Seasonal nature of surplus and deficit

Cherrapunji: suffers water scarcity in
summers

Orissa: 9 districts declared as both drought-
affected and flood-affected

Ganges is shown as water-deficit
according to the 'Indo-Bangladesh water
sharing Treaty.

Competing claims within river basin for
surplus water. e.g. Godavari


Contests over surplus and deficit
Claimed Benefits

Permanent drought-proofing
Permanent flood mitigation
Food security through irrigation

This drought-flood phenomenon is a
recurring feature. The need of the hour is
to have a water mission (and carry
out) networking of our rivers.

- Abdul Kalam, Aug 15, 2002
Most drought-prone areas not covered

Most canals serve
lower basins

West AP, North
Karnataka &
Maharashtra


Real solutions to drought sidelined

Flood Mitigation?
Past experiences of this approach
US: Flood damage doubled
India: Flood-prone areas dramatically increased
after 50 years of dam building
Extreme floods in Mahanadi delta 3 times more
frequent after Hirakud

Flood control conflicts with power generation
and irrigation
Insignificant flood waters to be diverted
River Monsoon flow
(cusecs)
Waters to be diverted
through ILR
(cusecs)
Brahmaputra 30,000 1,500
(5%)
Floods aggravate due to sudden
release, silting and breaching.

Sep 1980: Hundreds died due to forced
discharges from Hirakud

1978: 65,000 people rendered homeless
in Punjab due to floods from Bhakra
Nangal


Surplus in donor areas not when it is
needed in recipient areas

Surplus in Himalayan rivers: July to
October

Deficit in Peninsular rivers: January to
May

Interlinking rivers alone holds the key to
tackle ... shortfall in food production
- Abdul Kalam, Tirupati, Nov 21, 2003



Claim: ILR will irrigate 35 Mha.
Increasing food production from 220 MT
to 450 MT by 2050.


Lack of resources to maintain major
irrigation projects

AP, TN, UP, Orissa: Irrigated land reduced
by 10% since 1985

"For 16 years, we have poured out money. The people have
got nothing back, no irrigation, no water, no increase in
production, no help in their daily life.''

- Rajiv Gandhi, inaugurating the State Irrigation
Ministers' Conference, July 1986.

Less than 40% of irrigation in India is
through big dams and canals
Equating food security to Increasing
irrigation?















Crop Water requirement
(cm)
Yield
(kg / ha)
Water efficiency
(per m of water)
Rice 1,200 4,500 3.7
Sorghum 500 4,500 9.0
Bajra 500 4,000 8.0
How resource efficient are our crops?
What crops do we grow?
Crop 1950-51
MT
2000-01
MT
Increase

Sugarcane

57.05

301.44

500%
Pulses

8.41

11.72

140%
How is food distributed?

2001-02
211 MT food grains produced;
60 MT in buffer;
200 million underfed
Excessive irrigation results in waterlogging
and salinization.
2.46 million hectares lost (in 1991)
50% of all irrigated land in world saline to the
extent it can affect production

Indian Irrigation is only 20-35% efficient.
Mid term review of 9th Plan: 10% increase in
irrigation efficiency could lead to additional
irrigation potential of 14 M Ha.



The Civil Society
Questions
? ? ?
Out of the Blue?
there seems to be no imperative necessity for
massive water transfers for the peninsular
component..... the costs involved and the
environmental problems would be enormous for
the Himalayan component It would take 43
years to complete a project of this kind.
- National Commission on Integrated Water
Resources Development, 1999
... our catchword should be : "catch the catchment"
It is a powerful idea whose time has come
- Prime Minister Vajpayee, April 2002
Planning Process?
No mention in 9
th
and 10
th
Five Year Plans
Can Supreme Court decide the details of
water policy?
Setting a timeline by the SC for project
completion assumes all approvals a priori
Task Force asked to look into modalities of
implementation, not to examine viability
Consensus among states?
Where do the states stand?
Unconditional support Haryana, TN
Support of modified link Rajasthan, MP
Conditional support - Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra
Opposition - Kerala, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West
Bengal, Assam, Punjab, Chattisgarh, Goa

Conflicts with neighbors Bangladesh,
Nepal.
Transparency and Public Debate?
The reports are highly technical and will not be of
interest to the public at large - Suresh Prabhu,
Task Force, June 30, 2003

Need to make all studies and reports public
Need to examine the basis for all estimates
Ken-Betwa link example
Interdisciplinary public debate essential
Involvement of people and panchayats in
planning process

Finances How Much and How?
Rs. 560,000 crores
($120 billion)
= 1/4 of India's GDP
= 2.5 times annual
tax collection
= Double our Foreign
exchange reserve
= Indias Irrigation
Budget of 44 years

Financial Implications?
What does 5.6 lakh crores include?
How to raise the money: Public-Private
Partnerships, government bonds, foreign funds?
Pre-empting of resources from much-needed
projects & sustainable water management efforts
Heavy debt and interest payments
"Contracts will be given to foreign agencies, but
not control of water"-SP, Feb11, 2004, Pune
Slippery slope to Corporate Ownership of water
Displacement and Resettlement
Fuzzy Numbers 450,000? 498,241? Millions?
About a million hectares submerged
Dismal history of Resettlement in India
Most underprivileged are most affected
Land for land for all the displaced?
"A group has been formed to discuss what should
be done for providing alternate livelihoods"-SP,
Feb 11, 2004

Environment Matters.!
Flawed understanding of rivers?
Negative experiences around the world
Aral Sea, Colorado river, etc.
Altering river basins and redrawing geography
Linking Pollution
Submergence of forests
Sedimentation due to large storage
Salinity and water-logging

Growing concern from civil society
Ramaswamy Iyer, former Union Water Resources
Secretary of India
Dr. R.N.Athavale, Emeritus Scientist with the
National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad
Medha Patkar, social activist
Dr. Subrata Sinha, former Deputy Director General
of Geological Survey of India
Vandana Shiva, ecologist
Dr. Jayanto Bandopadyay, Prof, IIM Calcutta
Dr. Khalequzzaman, Prof of Geology, PA, USA
L.C.Jain, former Planning Commission member
Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere, VSM (Retd)
Sunita Narain, Centre for Science and Environment
Sanjoy Hazarika, eminent journalist and writer
many more

Alternatives?
A Sensible Approach to
Managing Water Use

Tanks and Lakes
Multiple roles: irrigation, groundwater,
fishing, domestic use, cattle
150,000 in AP, TN, Karnataka many
dysfunctional now
2 mil. hectares out of 5 mil. in AP!
Only 13% allocation of funds since 1951
Watershed-based development
Soil conservation & water management!
Numerous success stories
Alwar, Raj.: 1058 villages drought-free
Ralegaon Siddhi: Irrigation to 1200 acres
Rajkot, Guj: Water Table - 250 m to 15 m
Works in entire district Jhabua
Diverse approaches across country
Low cost with local materials and labor
People own the work
Peoples participation is the key

Hamirpura follows Gopalpura Tarun
Bharat Sanghs work in Alwar continues

Video Source: Arvari by CSE
Agriculture, water, irrigation
Making right choice of crops
Examples of institutional arrangements
Native varieties of seeds
Focus on productivity per unit water
rice (8 kg/ha.mm), millets (30 kg/ha.mm)
Improving Irrigation Efficiency
Better methods of agriculture
LEISA: Rs. 30,000 from acre!
Rice cultivation with low water input
River Basin Planning
Ridge-to-river approach
Comprehensive River basin planning
e.g. Swarnamukhi River, AP
(T.Hanumantha Rao)
1900 kuntas or small ponds
Contour bunds, continuous sunken pits
15 sub-surface dams on main river
Cover crops in catchment, tree plantation in
uplands and forests
River Basin Planning (contd.)
South Africas new water law
Ecological reserve
Participatory planning at all levels

Let us think
Should we evolve forward in the
scientific, sustainable, participatory,
approach?

Or do we want to put our resources and
energy into the high-risk ILR?