Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on Monday signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for starting work on country’s first major interlinking of two monsoon rivers, Ken and Betwa, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even as environment activists said the project would spell doom for the Panna tiger reserve which is known for critically endangered white-rumped vultures besides successful restoration of tiger population.
The MoA was signed 18 years after the project was first conceived as a part of country’s ambitious programme to inter-link rivers to provide water to areas facing scarcity. Officials said the delay was because of no agreement between the two states on sharing of water during the lean supply months, November to April.
The Uttar Pradesh government, which was initially demanding 930 million cubic meter (MCM) water during the Rabi season, settled for 750 MCM while MP will get 1,834 MCM water, said an officer of MP water resource department.
According to the project report, 2,800 MCM of water will be diverted from Ken basin to water deficit Betwar basin through a 73.8 meter high dam proposed on Ken at Daudhan in MP’s Chhattarpur district.
Also Read | Ken Betwa project could hit wildlife: Report
{{/usCountry}}Also Read | Ken Betwa project could hit wildlife: Report
{{/usCountry}}The report also said 6,017 hectares forest land of Panna Tiger Reserve and Ken Ghariyal Sanctuary would be submerged in the dam reservoir.
MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said people of nine Madhya Pradesh districts: Sagar, Chhatarpur, Vidisha, Shivpuri, Raisen, Damoh, Panna and Tikamgarh, and four districts of Uttra Pradesh -- Mahoba, Jhansi, Lalitpur and Banda -- will benefit from the project.
“About 1 million hectares of land will get irrigated and 6.2 million people, mostly in water deficit Bundelkhand region, will get drinking water,” he added.
There is, however, opposition to the project from the Panna royal family and environmentalists. “It is very sad that the government and experts overlooked the possible impact of the project on diamond mining in Panna and wildlife in the area. We will lose world famous diamond site for ever,” said Maharani Jiteshwari Judevi of Panna royal family.
Himanshu Thakkar, convenor of South Asia Network on Dams, River and People (SANDRP) said it was “very unfortunate” that the Central and state governments signed an MoA on World Water Day even though the project would proved to be a curse for water conservation.
“According to a report of the forest advisory committee, an estimated 4.6 million trees will be cut down for the project. This will lead to poor rainfall in an already parched Bundelkhand,” he added.
He said that the project would destroy Panna Tiger Reserve, home to over 52 tigers and several of endangered vultures, including the white-rumped vulture. Of the nine vulture species found in India, six can be seen in Panna, which is running a vulture population revival programme.
Several committees, including the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), had raised doubts about the project. A petition opposing the approval to the project is pending before the Supreme Court.
“We are sure the project won’t get forest clearance,” Thakkar said.
Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh feared the project would destroy local ecology. “The CMs of UP and MP will sign a pact today to link the Ken and Betwa rivers. This will all but destroy the Panna Tiger Reserve in MP, a success story in translocation and revival. I had suggested alternatives 10 years ago but alas,” he tweeted earlier in the day.
State water resource minister Tulsiram Silawat said, “People should stop doing politics on this issue. The governments will spend more than ₹35,000 crore for development, not for destruction. It won’t destroy anything but will bring a smile to the faces of the people of Bundelkhand.”
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Office said the project will “also will pave the way for more interlinking of river projects to ensure that scarcity of water does not become an inhibitor for development in the country.”