Cabinet Nod for Ken-Betwa River Linking Project

Tags: National News

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the funding and implementation of the Ken­-Betwa river interlinking project. It is the first out of the 30 projects of the National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers.

Highlights-

• Benefit Water Starved Districts of the Bundelkhand region of MP and UP like Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen of Madhya Pradesh, and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh,
• The total cost of the project 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 surplus water from the Ken river to the Betwa river through the construction of the Daudhan dam and a canal linking the two rivers, the Lower Orr Project, Kotha Barrage, and the Bina Complex Multipurpose Project
• The project is slated to irrigate 10.62 lakh hectares annually, provide drinking water supply to 62 lakh people and generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar power. 
• The project is proposed to be completed in eight years.
• The project is expected to boost socio­-economic prosperity in the backward Bundelkhand region on account of increased agricultural activities and employment generation. 
• It would also help in arresting distress migration from this region
• The project will partly submerge the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and affect the habitat of vultures and jackals, which is the major environmental and wildlife concern hindering the progress of the project for all these years.
• The two states signed a tripartite agreement with the Centre on World Water Day (22nd March) to finally implement this ambitious project.
• After years of protests, it was finally cleared by the apex wildlife regulator, the National Board for Wildlife, in 2016