Environmentalists warn against linking rivers
NDTV Correspondent
Friday, November 1, 2002 (New Delhi):
It's a plan which, if implemented, could once and for all end droughts and floods in the country.
The Supreme Court order to link India's 10 major rivers within as many years could change the lives of millions of people in the country. The apex body has even asked the Centre to pass a law to get state governments to cooperate.
But the plan may well turn out to be an environmental disaster if not properly implemented.
The directions came after a petition filed three months ago by a Delhi-based lawyer Ranjit Kumar. He said, "All rivers will be linked so you will have extra water for irrigation and other purposes which will be used by those who don't have it."
The Centre already has a blueprint for what the network will look like:
One set of links between the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery Another set of links between Bhima, Krishna, Godavari and Tapi In the east, the Ganga, Mahanadi and Brahmaputra In the north, a link between the Yamuna and the Sabarmati
But many believe that such a project will damage the environment and displace thousands of people.
Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment, said, "To link rivers in the country is against their natural flow and to do this with all rivers in the country will mean massive engineering work and also massive displacement. Given the track record of the government, it will mean a massive task."
The Centre has been given until December to set up a special task force in a decision that could trigger a fresh controversy on large water projects and their impact on the environment.