Inter linking of Rivers in India : Benefits, Problems, China
2.
History
9.
What is Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of
International Watercourses (CLNNUIW)?
·
It aims to Transfer water from surplus to water deficit areas in
the country.
·
Inter-Linking River Program will help saving the people living
in drought-prone zones from hunger and people living in flood-prone areas from
the destruction caused by floods".
·
During the British raj, an Engineer Sir Arthur Cotton had
sought to link the Ganga and the Cauvery to
improve connectivity for navigation purposes
·
but due to the increased railway connectivity among the areas,
the idea was shelved.
·
In 1982, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) was formed
as an autonomous body entrusted with the task to carry out the water balance
and feasibility studies of the river linking program.
·
In Feb 2012, Supreme Court, gave its go-ahead to the
interlinking of rivers and asked the government to ensure that the project is
implemented expeditiously.
|
State
|
Reason
|
|
In
Favour =Tamil Nadu.
|
·
no major river originates in the state; it is dependent on
inter-state rivers.
|
|
|
·
they want exclusive right to use their water resources and
that such transfers should not affect any rights of these states.
|
·
Due to reluctance of certain states, the Centre has not been
allowed to undertake detailed surveys.
·
Irrigating 35 million hectares;
·
Enabling full use of existing irrigation projects;
·
Generating power to the tune of 34,000 mw with added benefits,
including flood control.
·
Cost of the project was estimated at 5,60,000 crore;
·
the true cost can known only when the detailed project reports
of the 30 river link projects are drawn up
·
So far only Ken-Betwa project is under survey.
·
It is the only project for which the detailed project report has
been prepared,
·
In 2005, MoU was signed between Union Water ministry, CMs of MP
and UP.
·
Approximately 8,650 ha of forestland in Madhya Pradesh is likely
to be submerged for the project; and part of that forestland is a part of the Panna National
Park
·
Subject "water" is placed in the Constitution in Entry
17 of List II (State List) of Schedule VII.
·
However, the caveat is Entry 56 of List I (Union List), which
says, "Regulations and development of inter-state rivers and river valleys
to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the
Union is declared by Parliament by law to be
expedient in the public interest."
·
Unfortunately, the Centre has made little use of the powers
vested in it vide Entry 56 of List I.
·
The result is that by virtue of Article 246 read with Entry 17,
List II, states have exclusive jurisdiction over waters that are located within
their territories, including inter-state rivers and river valleys.
·
It is arguably this status of water in the Constitution that
constrains the highest in the executive and the judiciary, despite their
pronouncements on and commitment to resolving the problem.
·
It has also stopped the Centre from establishing allocation
rules and clearly defined water rights among states that have unending disputes
over the sharing of inter-state water resources.
·
The latest example is the second Krishna Water Disputes
Tribunal, which has turned into a warzone, with a battery of lawyers, technical
staff and irrigation department officials from Maharashtra, Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh fighting to win the maximum allocation of the Krishna
river for their respective state.
·
Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of
International Watercourses : it is
a document adopted by the UN on May 21, 1997, pertaining to the use and conservation of all waters that cross international boundaries, including surface and ground water.
a document adopted by the UN on May 21, 1997, pertaining to the use and conservation of all waters that cross international boundaries, including surface and ground water.
·
Unfortunately, the convention is not yet ratified.
·
Alongside the US ,
China , Canada and Australia ,
India
·
China has several
projects in west-central Tibet
that may reduce the river water flow into India +Bangladesh
·
There are reports that China
is planning to divert 200 billion cubic metres (BCM) of the Brahmaputra from
south to north to feed the Yellow River .
·
If this is true, India
·
Many of the hydel projects in the Northeast
India may have to be shelved.
·
Of the 1,900 BCM of river runoff available in the country, about
600 BCM is generated in the Brahmaputra, one can imagine what would happen if
the bulk of this is diverted by China
It says:
·
India
·
it has led to rapidly declining water tables and critically
depleted aquifers, and is no longer sustainable (at many places).
·
government actions — including the provision of highly
subsidised or even free power — have exacerbated rather than addressed the
problem
·
India
·
We need to see if a change in its constitutional status is
required
·
We also need to enhance our water-storage capacity, as we suffer
the most from the vagaries of the monsoon.
·
river-linking project, alongside a chain of water-conservation
projects, would offer a solution.
REF
Source : http://mrunal.org
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.