River Interlinking: Resolve Water Disputes through Cooperation

Why in News?

Chairing the 51st PRAGATI meeting, the Prime Minister of India has asked States to resolve inter-State water disputes through cooperation, timely clearances and technology-based monitoring, and said the Ken-Betwa project should serve as a model for the same.

He emphasised that delays in implementing public projects not only lead to cost escalation but also deprive citizens of timely access to essential facilities.

India’s Water Paradox:

• India accounts for roughly 18% of the world’s population but possesses only about 4% of its freshwater resources. 
• The country receives an average annual rainfall of 1170 mm, yet this precipitation is distributed in a profoundly uneven manner.
  • Approximately 80% of the annual rainfall falls within the 70-90 day monsoon window (June-September), generating massive runoff that causes devastating floods in the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin while leaving the Deccan plateau, Rajasthan, and the peninsular interior chronically water-stressed.
• A NITI Aayog report (2023) estimated that nearly 600 million Indians face high-to-extreme water stress, and that water demand will exceed available supply by a factor of two by 2030, if current trajectories continue. 

India loses approximately $10 billion annually to flood and drought damage combined. This asymmetry is the foundational rationale for the river-interlinking idea.

Evolution of River Interlinking Concept: 

• Sir Arthur Cotton, a British irrigation engineer who designed works on the Godavari and Krishna rivers in the 19th century, first proposed a national water grid approximately 130 years ago. 
• Sir M. Visvesvaraya, legendary engineer and Dewan of Mysore, further developed the concept.
• K.L. Rao and Captain Dinshaw J. Dastur subsequently expanded the scope of this concept in 1970 and 1980.
• The modern policy framework originated with the National Perspective Plan (NPP) prepared by the then Ministry of Irrigation in August 1980, which envisioned inter-basin water transfer as a systematic strategy for water redistribution. 
• The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) was established in 1982 under the Ministry of Jal Shakti (then Ministry of Water Resources) to conduct surveys, investigations, and feasibility studies for the 30 links identified under the NPP.

The National Perspective Plan: Current Status

• The NPP identifies 30 river link projects divided into two components: the Himalayan Component with 14 links and the Peninsular Component with 16 links. 

Ken-Betwa Link Project: India’s First ILR in Action

• The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) is a tripartite initiative between the Central Government, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. 
• It involves transferring surplus water from the Ken River (a Yamuna tributary) that passes through Panna district of Madhya Pradesh, to the Betwa River, which flows through both states before joining the Yamuna near Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh. 

Merits of River Interlinking: 

• Water Equity and Food Security: Transfer from flood-prone surplus basins (Brahmaputra, Ganga) to chronically water-deficient regions (Bundelkhand, Rajasthan, coastal Andhra) would reduce regional inequalities in agricultural productivity. 
• Flood and Drought Mitigation: River-interlinking projects can simultaneously reduce peak flood discharge in surplus rivers by diverting excess monsoon runoff, while recharging reservoirs in deficit areas before and after the monsoon.
• Hydropower and Renewable Energy: The dam infrastructure required for river-interlinking projects also creates significant hydropower potential. The NPP projects a total hydropower generation of approximately 34,000 MW from the complete programme, especially significant for states in the Himalayan component. 
• Inland Navigation and Connectivity: The 14,900-km network of canals envisaged under the NPP could substantially expand India’s inland waterway network, reducing the burden on overburdened road and railway infrastructure for bulk commodity transport- particularly coal, fertilisers, and agricultural produce.
• Revival of Seasonal Rivers: Transfers can augment lean-season flows in seasonal rivers, improving groundwater recharge in adjoining aquifers, sustaining riparian ecosystems, and supporting municipal water supply for towns dependent on these rivers in non-monsoon months.

Associated Challenges: 

• Environmental Disruption: River interlinking fundamentally alters the hydraulic geometry of natural systems. Reduced freshwater discharge to estuaries and coastal deltas increases salinity intrusion, harms mangrove ecosystems, and impairs the livelihoods of fishing communities. E.g., the Indus Delta became degraded after upstream barrage construction. The Ken-Betwa Link Project alone will submerge approximately 98 sq km of the Panna Tiger Reserve, including critical tiger habitat.
• Questionable Surplus Assumption: The foundational assumption that certain rivers have “surplus” water is contested by hydrologists. Surplus calculations are typically based on long-term averages; they do not account for climate change-driven variability, the ecological minimum flow required to sustain the donor river’s own ecosystem, or the fact that most basins enter deficit within weeks of the monsoon’s conclusion. 
• Inter-State Disputes: Water is a State subject under Schedule VII of the Constitution, and inter-state water disputes are adjudicated under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956. Historically, sharing agreements have taken decades to achieve: the Cauvery dispute took over a century of litigation; the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal remains incomplete after 40+ years. River linking projects require multiple states to agree on water allocation, submergence compensation, and benefit sharing.
• Displacement and Tribal Rights: Large dam projects are marked by inadequate rehabilitation of displaced communities, particularly scheduled tribes.
• Climate Change and Hydrological Uncertainty: IPCC projections for South Asia anticipate increased intensity but decreased predictability of monsoon rainfall, with glacial melt on Himalayan rivers shifting their seasonal flow regimes in ways that standard hydrology does not capture. Infrastructure designed on historical flow data may be significantly over- or under-dimensioned for mid-century conditions.
• Transboundary Complications: The Himalayan component of the river-interlinking programme involves rivers shared with Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and China. E.g., Saptakosi-Sun Kosi Link, for instance, requires Nepal’s consent for impoundment in its territory. Absence of comprehensive transboundary water agreements means these projects cannot proceed unilaterally. 

Way Forward: 

The framework must draw on the expert recommendations, including the Mihir Shah Committee Report on Water Governance.

• Ecological Safeguards: All ILR projects must guarantee a minimum ecological flow (e-flow) in donor rivers throughout the year. Cumulative impact assessments must cover the entire project, not individual components.
• Sequenced Implementation: Begin with politically uncontroversial projects with the fewest interstate objections. KBLP is the right starting point. Before expanding, independently evaluate the KBLP’s actual hydrology, displacement outcomes, and reservoir performance.
• Rehabilitation and resettlement must be completed before any project construction begins, as mandated by the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR Act). Genuine gram sabha consent under PESA and FRA must be enforced.
• Water Governance Reform: As the Mihir Shah Committee recommended, India must prioritise participatory water governance, efficient water use in agriculture (drip/sprinkler expansion, crop-water matching), aquifer mapping, and reforms to groundwater law before investing in costly supply-side infrastructure.
• Climate-Proof Design: ILR feasibility reports must incorporate IPCC’s latest South Asia hydrological projections. Projects designed on 30-year historical averages are already potentially obsolete. Dynamic flow modelling that accounts for glacial retreat, shifting monsoon patterns, and extreme events is essential.
• Strengthen the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act mechanism to include ADR (alternative dispute resolution) pathways. Use the PRAGATI platform’s cooperative federalism design to create incentive structures (including sharing of hydropower revenues) that make interstate agreement financially rational. 

A responsible river interlinking programme must navigate between the legitimate development needs of water-deficient regions and the irreversible ecological and social costs that large-scale geoengineering can impose.  

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