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4 Sep 2017 DAUDHAN

$87 Billion USD River-Linking Project Closer to Approval

After years of foot-dragging India will begin work in around a month on an $87 billion scheme to connect some of the country’s biggest rivers, government sources say, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi bets on the ambitious project to end deadly floods and droughts. The mammoth plan entails linking nearly 60 rivers, including the mighty Ganges, which the government hopes will cut farmers’ dependence on fickle monsoon rains by bringing millions of hectares of cultivatable land under irrigation.

23 Mar 2016 NEW DELHI, India

Ken-Betwa River-Linking Project an Ecological Disaster, Says India’s National Wildlife Board

The $1.18 billion USD Ken-Betwa river linking project -- which aims to irrigate 600,000 hectares of land and provide drinking water to 1.34 million people in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh states -- will be an ecological disaster, India’s National Wildlife Board has warned.During a recent review of the project, the country’s inspector general of forests and wildlife said that in addition to displacing 10 villages, the project would submerge 58...

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2 Nov 2015 SINGAPORE

OOSKAnews Voices: India's River-Linking Program Highlights Costs, Opportunities of Large-Scale Water Infrastructure Projects

OOSKAnews Voices is a new series of guest “opinion columns” on water, written by senior participants in different parts of the international water community. The columns provide a global platform for organizations and individuals to promulgate their views and messages. In this piece Udisha Saklani and Dr...

29 Sep 2015 NEW DELHI, India

Environmentalists Say Ken-Betwa River Link Project's Impact Assessment Inadequate

Environmentalists and former officials with the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) have written to the federal Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change warning about inadequacies in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Ken-Betwa river linking project.Their letter, endorsed by former Power Secretary EAS Sarma and former Secretary of the Water Resources Ministry Ramaswamy R Iyer, who had a major role in drafting the 1987 National Water Policy, said the majority of citizens present during the public hearing process that was held in December 2014 opposed the project, although they were shouted down by activists from the ruling party...

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4 Sep 2015 NEW DELHI, India

Indian Government Planning Sharda River-Gujarat Link

With work on Ken-Betwa river interlinking project between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states likely to start soon, the Indian government is now looking at linking the Sharda River, which originates in Nepal, with Gujarat state.The Ken-Betwa link was the first of 30 links to be constructed as part of the $166 billion USD Peninsular Rivers Component of the National Perspective Plan...

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30 Jun 2015 BHOPAL, India

India’s Madhya Pradesh State to Irrigate Another 5 Million Hectares

The government of India’s Madhya Pradesh state plans to invest $472 million USD on projects to bring another 5 million hectares of land under irrigation.The projects are in line with the state’s Vision Document 2018.Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said the major focus of the state's plan is small-scale and micro-irrigation projects...

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25 Jun 2015 NEW DELHI, India

India to Link Ken and Betwa Rivers in $1.18 Billion Project

The Indian government will start a $1.18 billion USD project to link the Ken and Betwa rivers by December, according to S. Masood Hussain, director general of the National Water Development Agency (NWDA).The Ken is the last tributary of the Yamuna before it joins the Ganges. Eighty-seven percent of the water body lies in Madhya Pradesh, and 12 percent in Uttar Pradesh...

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8 Jun 2015 LUCKNOW, India

Uttar Pradesh to Build $94 Million Multi-purpose Dam

The government of India’s Uttar Pradesh state has launched a multi-purpose dam project to provide water to the arid Bundelkand region.The 19-meter-high dam will be built in the village of Jhujharpur, in the Jhansi district, 40 kilometers downstream from the Parichha Dam on the Betwa River. The estimated cost of the project is some $94 million USD...

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15 Jan 2015 NEW DELHI, India

India to Move Ahead With River-Linking Despite Opposition: Minister

The Indian government will move ahead with its plans to link rivers all across the country, despite concerns from environmentalists, according to federal Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.“Some of our environmental friends are raising voices,” Naidu said during an India Water Week event this week...

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