University of Maryland, College Park, MD / Feb 21 st , 2004 Rivers for Life What is the Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) project?
Aims to transfer water from water-surplus to water-deficit rivers.
Links 37 rivers through 30 links (14 Himalayan, 16 Peninsular)
Canals, large and medium dams Claimed Benefits Flood and drought mitigation Irrigation of 35 million hectares Drinking water 34,000 MW power Inland navigation Ecological upgradation Employment generation National integration
1972 - Ganga Cauvery Link Canal K.L.Rao, Former union minister of state for power and irrigation 2640 km link from Ganga near Patna Needed a large pumping facility Rejected on techno-economic grounds 1977 Garland Canal Captain Dastur 4200 km Himalayan canal, 9300 km Southern Garland Canal Connection through pipeline at Patna Rejected as impractical and infeasible What followed was. 1982: National Water Development Agency (NWDA) set up to study inter basin transfer schemes.
1999: National Commission on Integrated Water Resources Development reviews NWDA studies
Aug 2002: Independence Day Speech by President Kalam
Oct 2002: Supreme Court ruling in a PIL recommending Interlinking by 2012
Nov 2002: 6 Feasibility studies completed
Dec 13 2002: Task Force set up to accomplish interlinking by 2016 Status of ILR Estimated cost: Rs. 5,60,000 crores (or more) Announced Project Timeline: - Completion of feasibility studies by 2005 - Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) by 2006 - Implementations of the projects by 2016 Status: Completed water balance studies of 137 basins/sub basins, pre-feasibility studies of all 30 links and feasibility studies of 8 links. Two Links to begin in 2004 I n the end, we only conserve what we love We will only love what we understand. - Baba Dioum, Senegalese poet UNDERSTANDING RIVERS Much more than a Water Channel A river system includes Streams and rivulets flowing into river Sediments carried and deposited Pools and wetlands on the floodplain Living organisms forming a food web Deltas and estuaries
It is a complex eco-system! "A river is the report card for its watershed." - Alan Levere What is a watershed? A River Basin Map of Andhra Pradesh Cant step twice into the same river - Understanding the Flow Pattern Source: Rivers for Life by Sandra Postel Natural Low Flow - Sustains aquatic life - Maintains water table - Soil moisture for trees - Maintains river channel
Natural Flood - Floodplain Recharge - Silt Deposit - Flushes channel - Bounty for river life Source: Rivers for Life by Sandra Postel Dammed Low Flow - Aquatic life suffers - Trees wilt - Water table recedes Absence of Flood - No recharge - Soil loses fertility - Trees encroach - River life stagnates Source: Rivers for Life by Sandra Postel How a river comes to life!
Rajasthan The driest state in India
The Story of Arvari
Courtesy: Tarun Bharat Sangh, Centre for Science and Environment Source: Arvari
Having understood rivers Water Cycle River basin and Watershed Flow cycles Role of floods and low flow How do we manage our rivers? QUESTIONING Core assumption & Claimed benefits This is too important a matter to be left entirely to the internal processes of the government -Ramaswamy I yer, Former Secretary, Ministry for Water Resources Core Assumption Rivers can be clearly classified as water- surplus and water-deficit, and they can be equalized through water transfer. Flood-prone = Water-surplus? Drought-prone = Water-deficit? Permanent water-surplus and water- deficit areas?
Seasonal nature of surplus and deficit
Cherrapunji: suffers water scarcity in summers
Orissa: 9 districts declared as both drought- affected and flood-affected
Ganges is shown as water-deficit according to the 'Indo-Bangladesh water sharing Treaty.
Competing claims within river basin for surplus water. e.g. Godavari
Contests over surplus and deficit Claimed Benefits
Permanent drought-proofing Permanent flood mitigation Food security through irrigation
This drought-flood phenomenon is a recurring feature. The need of the hour is to have a water mission (and carry out) networking of our rivers.
- Abdul Kalam, Aug 15, 2002 Most drought-prone areas not covered
Most canals serve lower basins
West AP, North Karnataka & Maharashtra
Real solutions to drought sidelined
Flood Mitigation? Past experiences of this approach US: Flood damage doubled India: Flood-prone areas dramatically increased after 50 years of dam building Extreme floods in Mahanadi delta 3 times more frequent after Hirakud
Flood control conflicts with power generation and irrigation Insignificant flood waters to be diverted River Monsoon flow (cusecs) Waters to be diverted through ILR (cusecs) Brahmaputra 30,000 1,500 (5%) Floods aggravate due to sudden release, silting and breaching.
Sep 1980: Hundreds died due to forced discharges from Hirakud
1978: 65,000 people rendered homeless in Punjab due to floods from Bhakra Nangal
Surplus in donor areas not when it is needed in recipient areas
Surplus in Himalayan rivers: July to October
Deficit in Peninsular rivers: January to May
Interlinking rivers alone holds the key to tackle ... shortfall in food production - Abdul Kalam, Tirupati, Nov 21, 2003
Claim: ILR will irrigate 35 Mha. Increasing food production from 220 MT to 450 MT by 2050.
Lack of resources to maintain major irrigation projects
AP, TN, UP, Orissa: Irrigated land reduced by 10% since 1985
"For 16 years, we have poured out money. The people have got nothing back, no irrigation, no water, no increase in production, no help in their daily life.''
- Rajiv Gandhi, inaugurating the State Irrigation Ministers' Conference, July 1986.
Less than 40% of irrigation in India is through big dams and canals Equating food security to Increasing irrigation?
Crop Water requirement (cm) Yield (kg / ha) Water efficiency (per m of water) Rice 1,200 4,500 3.7 Sorghum 500 4,500 9.0 Bajra 500 4,000 8.0 How resource efficient are our crops? What crops do we grow? Crop 1950-51 MT 2000-01 MT Increase
Sugarcane
57.05
301.44
500% Pulses
8.41
11.72
140% How is food distributed?
2001-02 211 MT food grains produced; 60 MT in buffer; 200 million underfed Excessive irrigation results in waterlogging and salinization. 2.46 million hectares lost (in 1991) 50% of all irrigated land in world saline to the extent it can affect production
Indian Irrigation is only 20-35% efficient. Mid term review of 9th Plan: 10% increase in irrigation efficiency could lead to additional irrigation potential of 14 M Ha.
The Civil Society Questions ? ? ? Out of the Blue? there seems to be no imperative necessity for massive water transfers for the peninsular component..... the costs involved and the environmental problems would be enormous for the Himalayan component It would take 43 years to complete a project of this kind. - National Commission on Integrated Water Resources Development, 1999 ... our catchword should be : "catch the catchment" It is a powerful idea whose time has come - Prime Minister Vajpayee, April 2002 Planning Process? No mention in 9 th and 10 th Five Year Plans Can Supreme Court decide the details of water policy? Setting a timeline by the SC for project completion assumes all approvals a priori Task Force asked to look into modalities of implementation, not to examine viability Consensus among states? Where do the states stand? Unconditional support Haryana, TN Support of modified link Rajasthan, MP Conditional support - Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra Opposition - Kerala, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Punjab, Chattisgarh, Goa
Conflicts with neighbors Bangladesh, Nepal. Transparency and Public Debate? The reports are highly technical and will not be of interest to the public at large - Suresh Prabhu, Task Force, June 30, 2003
Need to make all studies and reports public Need to examine the basis for all estimates Ken-Betwa link example Interdisciplinary public debate essential Involvement of people and panchayats in planning process
Finances How Much and How? Rs. 560,000 crores ($120 billion) = 1/4 of India's GDP = 2.5 times annual tax collection = Double our Foreign exchange reserve = Indias Irrigation Budget of 44 years
Financial Implications? What does 5.6 lakh crores include? How to raise the money: Public-Private Partnerships, government bonds, foreign funds? Pre-empting of resources from much-needed projects & sustainable water management efforts Heavy debt and interest payments "Contracts will be given to foreign agencies, but not control of water"-SP, Feb11, 2004, Pune Slippery slope to Corporate Ownership of water Displacement and Resettlement Fuzzy Numbers 450,000? 498,241? Millions? About a million hectares submerged Dismal history of Resettlement in India Most underprivileged are most affected Land for land for all the displaced? "A group has been formed to discuss what should be done for providing alternate livelihoods"-SP, Feb 11, 2004
Environment Matters.! Flawed understanding of rivers? Negative experiences around the world Aral Sea, Colorado river, etc. Altering river basins and redrawing geography Linking Pollution Submergence of forests Sedimentation due to large storage Salinity and water-logging
Growing concern from civil society Ramaswamy Iyer, former Union Water Resources Secretary of India Dr. R.N.Athavale, Emeritus Scientist with the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad Medha Patkar, social activist Dr. Subrata Sinha, former Deputy Director General of Geological Survey of India Vandana Shiva, ecologist Dr. Jayanto Bandopadyay, Prof, IIM Calcutta Dr. Khalequzzaman, Prof of Geology, PA, USA L.C.Jain, former Planning Commission member Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere, VSM (Retd) Sunita Narain, Centre for Science and Environment Sanjoy Hazarika, eminent journalist and writer many more
Alternatives? A Sensible Approach to Managing Water Use
Tanks and Lakes Multiple roles: irrigation, groundwater, fishing, domestic use, cattle 150,000 in AP, TN, Karnataka many dysfunctional now 2 mil. hectares out of 5 mil. in AP! Only 13% allocation of funds since 1951 Watershed-based development Soil conservation & water management! Numerous success stories Alwar, Raj.: 1058 villages drought-free Ralegaon Siddhi: Irrigation to 1200 acres Rajkot, Guj: Water Table - 250 m to 15 m Works in entire district Jhabua Diverse approaches across country Low cost with local materials and labor People own the work Peoples participation is the key
Hamirpura follows Gopalpura Tarun Bharat Sanghs work in Alwar continues
Video Source: Arvari by CSE Agriculture, water, irrigation Making right choice of crops Examples of institutional arrangements Native varieties of seeds Focus on productivity per unit water rice (8 kg/ha.mm), millets (30 kg/ha.mm) Improving Irrigation Efficiency Better methods of agriculture LEISA: Rs. 30,000 from acre! Rice cultivation with low water input River Basin Planning Ridge-to-river approach Comprehensive River basin planning e.g. Swarnamukhi River, AP (T.Hanumantha Rao) 1900 kuntas or small ponds Contour bunds, continuous sunken pits 15 sub-surface dams on main river Cover crops in catchment, tree plantation in uplands and forests River Basin Planning (contd.) South Africas new water law Ecological reserve Participatory planning at all levels
Let us think Should we evolve forward in the scientific, sustainable, participatory, approach?
Or do we want to put our resources and energy into the high-risk ILR?
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