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It will transfer surplus water from the Uttar Pradesh section of the Ken to the Betwa in
Madhya Pradesh.
Nearly 40 years after it was conceived, India will finally launch its ambitious river interlinking
project to irrigate parched farmlands and generate power.
The 30-link project would start with the linking of Ken and Betwa rivers to provide irrigation
facility to water-deficient Raisen and Vidisha districts of central Madhya Pradesh
1. What: A new hurdle has come in the way of the marquee Ken-Betwa river interlink
project in its terms of financing
2. The NITI Aayog has recommended that Madhya Pradesh contribute 40% of the
project cost, with the Centre contributing 60%
3. The Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) has opposed this and requested that 90%
of the funds be routed through the Centre
5. The Ken-Betwa link project envisages diversion of surplus waters of Ken basin to
water deficit Betwa basin. This link canal will provide irrigation to water short areas
of upper Betwa basin of Madhya Pradesh by way of substitution and also enroute to
areas of Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh.
6. The Indian Rivers Inter-link is a proposed large-scale civil engineering project that
aims to link Indian rivers by a network of reservoirs and canals and so reduce
persistent floods in some parts and water shortages in other parts of India.
7. The Inter-link project has been split into three parts: a northern Himalayan rivers
inter-link component, a southern Peninsular component and starting 2005, an
intrastate rivers linking component. The project is being managed by Indias
National Water Development Agency (NWDA), under its Ministry of Water
Resources.
December 2016
The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has given its clearance for the Ken-Betwa inter-
linking of rivers (ILR) project, paving the way to begin work for linking two rivers.
The clearance of NBWL was required since the project requires diversion of forest
land from core area of Panna Tiger Reserve. However NBWL has set some conditions.
They are:
Integration of nearby sanctuaries including Ranipur and Rani Durgavati with the
Panna Tiger Reserve to compensate loss of tiger habitat and complete ban of fresh
mining lease in the area.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) will take care of the landscape
plan for the area with the help of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and state forest
departments.
The Forest Advisory Committees clearance is required for this diversion of forest land
Depending on whether a project takes over land in wildlife sanctuaries or notified forest
land, it requires separate wildlife, forest and environment clearances
Background
The Ken-Betwa ILR project had received clearance of the Union Cabinet in July 2014 but
the work could not begin as the mandatory clearance from the NBWL got stuck due to
objections raised from wildlife conservationists and environmentalists. Nearly 8,650
hectares of forest land including part of Panna National Park in Madhya Pradesh will be
submerged due to implementation of this project. The conservationists and
environmentalists have been mainly opposing the project, flagging its impact on tiger
reserve and wildlife sanctuaries.
MAMMALS
Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), the king of the jungle, roams freely in this secure,
though a bit small habitat alongwith his fellow beings leopard (Panthera pardus),
wild dog (Cuon alpinus), wolf (Canis lupus), hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) and caracal
(Felus caracal) and smaller cats. Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) has his most
favourite home in the rock escarpments and undisturbed vales. The wooded areas
are dotted with sambar (Cervus unicolor) - the largest of Indian deers, chital (Axis
axis) and chowsingha (Tetracevos quadricornis). One can easily see nilgai
(Boselaphus tragocamelus) and chinkara (Gazella gazella) in most open areas in the
grasslands, specially on the periphery.
BIRDS
The avifauna comprises more than 200 species including a host of migratory birds.
One can see white necked stork, barheaded goose, honey Buuzzard, King Vulture,
Blossom headed Parakeet, Paradise flycatcher, Slaty headed Scimitar babbler to
name a few.
REPTILES
Varieties of snakes, including the python and other reptiles are found here.
FLORA
Dry and hot climate, in union with shallow Vindhyan soils has given rise to dry Teak
and dry mixed forest. The dominating vegetation type is Miscellaneous Dry
Deciduous forest interspread with grassland areas. Other major forest types are
riverines, open grasslands, open woodlands with tall grasses and thorny woodlands.
The characteristic floral species of this area include tree species, shrub species, grass species
Panna is the twenty second Tiger Reserve of India and fifth in Madhya Pradesh . The
Reserve is situated in the Vindhyan Ranges and spreads over Panna and Chattarpur
districts in the north of the state.
Panna National Park was created in 1981. It was declared a Project Tiger Reserve by
Government of India in 1994. The National Park consists of areas from the former Gangau
Wildlife Sanctuary created in 1975.
At present, there are 6 tiger reserves in MP, namely Kanha, Panna, Bandhavgarh, Pench,
Satpura and Sanjay
Madhya Pradesh is also known as the 'Tiger State' as it harbors nearly 20% of India's Tiger
Population and nearly10% of the world's tiger population
National Parks/Wildlife
Tiger Sanctuaries Included in
Reserve Core Area
Phases of Ken-Betwa river
interlinking Project; River Ken
1 Kanha NP and Betwa; National
Kanha
Perspective plan; River
2 Bandhavgarh NP
interlinking project
Bandhavgarh
Panpatha WLS
3 Pench National Park
Pench Pench Mowghli WLS
4 Panna National Park
Panna Gangau WLS
5 Satpura NP