Ken betwa link project

Ken- Betwa link Project

The Union cabinet has approved the funding and implementation of the Ken- Betwa river interlinking project at a cost of Rs. 44,605 crore at the 2020-21 price level. The centre would fund Rs. 39,317 crore for the project, with Rs. 36,290 crore as a grant and Rs. 3,027 crore as a loan.

The project involves transferring of water from the ken river to the Betwa rivers through the construction of Daudhan dam and a canal linking the two rivers the lower off project, Kotha Barrage and the Bina complex Multipurpose project.

The project started to irrigate 10.62 lakh hectares annually, provide drinking water supply to 62 lakh people and generate 103MW of hydropower and 27MW of solar power. The project is proposed to be completed in 8 years.

The project will be of immense benefits to the water starved Bundelkhand region spread across Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. This project will provide enormous benefits to the districts of Panna, Daha, Tikamgarh, chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Raha, Vidisha Shivpuri, and Raisen of Madhya Pradesh and Banda Mahoba, Jhansi, and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh.

The project is expected to boost socio- economic prosperity in the backword Bundelkhand region on account of increased agricultural activities and employment generation. It would also help in arresting distress migration from this region it said.

Many hurdles have dogged the project. For one, the project will partly submerge and Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and affect the habitats of vultures and jackals. After years of protests, it was finally cleared by the apex wildlife regulator, the National Board for Wildlife, in 2016.

Then Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh reached on agreement on how water would be shared in March.

Challenges in River Interlinking

* Project feasibility

* Environmental Impact

* Controlling Floods

* Inter- state dispute

* International dispute

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