Question : Ken-Betwa River Inter-linking Project

(a) the present status of Ken-Betwa river inter linking project;
(b) the details of the areas likely to be benefited therefrom;
(c) whether as per the report of CEC, 6,017 hectare of forest land and Panna tiger reserve will be affected due to the project resulting in loss of wildlife habitat and if so, the details thereof;
(d) the efforts being made by the Government to bring different States on board to sort out the issue; and
(e) the details of the river linking projects of various States pending with the Government for financial and environmental approval along with their present status?

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT

(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)

(a) The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Ken-Betwa link project (KBLP) (Phase-I, Phase-II and Comprehensive) has been completed. The techno-economic clearance and various statutory clearances of the KBLP Phase-I have been accorded (except Stage-II Forest clearance and clearance from Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court). The Environmental clearance and Forest land diversion clearances for Lower Orr dam (part of phase-II) have been recommended by Environment Appraisal Committee (EAC) and Forest Appraisal Committee (FAC) of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF & CC) respectively. Stage-I forest clearance has been accorded by MoEF & CC for Lower Orr dam project. Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) clearance for Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) plan of Project Affected Families (PAFs) of Lower Orr dam has also been accorded. Environmental clearance and Stage-I&II forest clearances for Bina complex projects have been accorded by MoEF & CC. Comprehensive DPR of KBLP has been prepared and sent to Governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and Central Water Commission (CWC) in October, 2018.
(b) As per the comprehensive DPR, the total annual irrigation under the KBLP is 9.04 lakh ha comprising of 6.53 lakh ha in Madhya Pradesh and 2.51 lakh ha in Uttar Pradesh.
Contd…P/2

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(c) Out of the 6017 ha of forest area coming under submergence of Daudhan dam of KBLP, 4206 ha of area lies within the core tiger habitat of Panna Tiger Reserve.
(d) The interlinking of rivers (ILR) programme has been taken up on high priority. The Government is pursuing the ILR program in a consultative manner. A “Special Committee on Interlinking of Rivers” has been constituted in September, 2014 for the implementation of ILR programme. Sixteen meetings of the Special Committee have been held so far. Further, a Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers has been constituted by MoWR, RD & GR in April, 2015 and eleven meetings of the Task Force have been held so far. Efforts have been made for building consensus among the concerned States and also setting out road maps for implementation of the projects.
In respect of KBLP, meetings have been convened by Central Government at the level of Chief Ministers as well as at the level of Chief Secretaries of the party States to expedite the implementation of the project.
(e) The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) received 47 intra-State link proposals from nine States. NWDA prepared Pre-feasibility reports of 37 links and sent to the concerned States. The remaining links have been found not feasible or withdrawn by concerned States.
The DPRs of intra-State links viz. (i) Burhi Gandak-Noon-Baya-Ganga link of Bihar, (ii) Kosi-Mechi link of Bihar, (iii) Ponnaiyar-Palar Link of Tamil Nadu, (iv) Wainganga (Gosikhurd)-Nalganga (Purna Tapi) Link of Maharashtra have been completed and sent to the concerned State Governments. Out of the above four intra-State links, the techno-economic clearance for Kosi-Mechi intra-State link project has been accorded by Ministry of Jal Shakti. The Environmental clearance for the project has also been accorded by MoEF & CC.

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