(a) whether any expert committee for inter-linking of rivers has been constituted in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether recommendations of previous task force have been considered by the committee in this regard and if so, the details thereof; and
(d) the steps taken/to be taken to expedite the process of inter-linking of rivers?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION & PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS
(SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)
(a) & (b) The Supreme Court vide its judgment dated 27.02.2012 in the Writ Petition (Civil) No. 512 of 2002 on ‘Networking of Rivers’ along with Writ Petition No. 668 of 2002 directed the Union of India to constitute a Committee under the chairmanship of Minister of Water Resources for the implementation of Inter-Linking of River (ILR). A Committee called “Special Committee on Interlinking of Rivers” was constituted for the implementation of ILR under the Chairmanship of the Union Minister (WR, RD & GR) vide Gazette Notification dated 23rd September, 2014.
The Union Cabinet while approving the constitution of Special Committee for ILR in its meeting held on 24th July, 2014 further, directed that a Committee comprising of experts be constituted to look into the issues relating to inter linking of rivers. In compliance to the direction of Union Cabinet, MoWR, RD & GR vide O.M. dated 13th April, 2015 constituted a Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers (TF-ILR) under the Chairmanship of Shri B.N. Navalawala, Chief Advisor, MoWR, RD & GR. So far, eight (8) meetings of the TF-ILR has been held and the last meeting was held on 15.09.2017.
(c) To discharge its functions, the Special Committee for ILR has constituted four sub-committees. One of the sub-committees i.e. Sub-Committee-I has been set up for comprehensive evaluation of various studies/reports available on the issue of ILR including the recommendations/suggestions made in Reports of the Task Force on Interlinking of Rivers (2004) and its Sub-Groups/Committees.
(d) The ILR programme has been taken up on high priority. The Government is pursuing the ILR program in a consultative manner. Fourteen meetings of the Special Committee for ILR have been held so far (last meeting held on 17.01.2018 at New Delhi), wherein State Irrigation/ Water Resources Ministers along with the Secretaries of various States participated. The Special Committee on ILR takes into consideration all the suggestions/observations of the stakeholders while planning and formulating the ILR projects. The Committee, after considering views of all the stakeholders, is proceeding ahead to expedite the objectives of the interlinking of rivers as per terms of reference. Vigorous efforts have been made for generating consensus with development of alternative plans and also setting out road maps for implementation of mature projects.
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