How new hurdles are delaying the Ken-Betwa river link project
As the Ken-Betwa river link project approaches the final stages of environmental clearance, at a time when nothing could come in its way, the Madhya Pradesh government has raised certain issues with the project that are expected to delay the implementation of the project.
The raising of objections is interesting given that the MP government till recently had been bending over backwards on every demand by the union and Uttar Pradesh government – the other two stakeholders in the project. The MP government has demanded that three smaller projects on the Ken, that were initially expected to be part of the second phase of the project, be included in the first phase itself. The projects include the Kotha Barrage, Lower Orr and Bina Complex.
Prior to this, at a meeting of top officials of the Union Ministry of Water Resources, MP's irrigation department and their UP counterparts, the MP government raised the issue of sharing of water of the project. The union ministry's representative told the MP government official that it was too late to raise the point but the MP government stuck to its stand and wrote a letter on the subject to the union government.
A month back, the Ken-Betwa river link project became the cause for a people's movement to begin taking root in Panna district. People had begun questioning the project and its impact on the Ken river – suggesting that conclusive studies whether the river is a surplus one had not been carried out. Interestingly, the Panna Vikas Manch, the body spearheading the agitation in Panna also raised the issue of three smaller projects, Ken Multipurpose, Midhasan Diversion and Patne Major on the Ken which they demanded should be completed before the Ken-Betwa river link dam at Daudhan is commissioned.
Those opposed to the project were convinced that the wildlife and environmental clearances would come in the way of the project. However, these did not prove to be such a deterrence for the government which almost bulldozed its way in the wildlife board meetings. However, objections raised by the MP government will have to be addressed by the union government for the project to go ahead. Under the KB Link project, a 73.80metre high dam is proposed to be constructed on the Ken at Daudhan in Chattarpur district.
The dam will transfer excess water from the Ken to the Betwa through a canal and will irrigate areas in Tikamgarh, Chattarpur districts of MP and Jhansi and Hamirpur districts of UP. The dam, as per the Detailed Project Report (DPR) will submerge about 90sqkm of which about 61sqkm - mainly critical tiger breeding habitat - will come from the 543sqkm Panna Tiger Reserve. The project was estimated to cost about Rs 9000 crore ten years ago.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)