Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari has stressed on the need to develop consensus among the concerned states on interlinking of rivers so that the water draining unutilized into the sea could be utilized for the needy areas.
Addressing representatives of the state governments in New Delhi, Mr Gadkari called upon states to discuss and sort out issues through active consultation so that the projects can be implemented on priority. He reiterated that the project for interlinking of rivers is very important for enhancing water and food security of the country and essential for providing water to drought-prone and water deficit areas.
He said, steps have been taken for early implementation of five interlinking projects and Memorandum of Agreement for implementation of these projects is being finalised in consultation with the concerned state governments. These five projects include Ken-Betwa link project, Damanganga-Pinjal link project, Par-Tapi-Narmada link project, Godavari-Cauvery link project and Parvati-Kali Sindhu-Chambal link.
The Minister said, National Water Development Agency has so far received 47 proposals of intra-state links from nine States – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh. Mr Gadkari said, the successful completion of these projects will lead to reduction in disaster during floods, improved irrigation facilities, employment generation in rural agriculture and increase in exports and decrease in migration from villages.
