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Ken-Betwa Link Project

Context:

• Recently The Steering Committee of the Ken-Betwa Link Project recently held its third meeting in New Delhi.

Ken-Betwa Link Project

• The Ken-Betwa Link Project was approved by the Union Government in December 2021 at a total cost of ₹44,605 crores.
• The Ken-Betwa Link Project project was touted as the first river inter-link project under the revised national scheme.
• The main objective of the project is to transfer excess water from the River Ken to the Betwa basin.
• Under this project, the Union and Government of Madhya Pradesh will link the Ken river with the Betwa river in order to ensure water supply to the Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh which is one of the most drought-affected regions in India.
• The linking of the two rivers will be in the form of a canal that will be fed by the Daudhan Dam on the Ken, which is to be constructed within the Panna Tiger Reserve.
• According to the Union Government, the dam will also help generate 103 MW of hydroelectric power.
• Further, the constructed canal between the two rivers will flow through Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh and Jhansi districts, and the project is expected to help irrigate 6.3 lakh hectares of land annually.

Concerns associated with the project

• Concerns over surplus and deficit model:  Various hydrological and ecological experts have expressed displeasure over the project as they believe that the “surplus and deficit” model proposed by the government has very little scientific backing.
• Experts feel that there may not be enough water in the Ken, which is a non-perennial river, to meet the demands of the Betwa river.
• Concerns over the impact on Panna tiger reserve: Additionally, environmentalists have raised concerns about the project affecting the water security of Panna Tiger Reserve.
• Panna is regarded as an exceptional tiger habitat because of its deep gorges.
• However, such gorges of the reserve will be drowned if a new dam is built.
• Furthermore, the Ken Gharial Sanctuary is located downstream of the Panna national which was established to conserve critically endangered Gangetic Gharial and the destructive impact of the construction of the dam is not clear.

Clearances received by the project and associated issues

• Sections 18 and 35 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 deal with the provisions of setting aside areas of significance to wildlife as “sanctuaries” and “national parks”.
• Further, Sections 29 and 35(6) of the Act restrict human activities within such areas without prior approval.
• Diversion or stopping of the flow of water within or outside a sanctuary or national park is not allowed unless doing so is considered necessary to improve the management of wildlife.
• According to the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) the approval granted by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL to the project has not been proven to be necessary for the better management of the wildlife as provided in Section 35(6) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• The CEC has noted that the Standing Committee of the NBWL has not considered the impact of the project on the downstream gharial sanctuary.
• The CEC has submitted this report to the Supreme Court in August 2019, and the issue has remained controversial.
• The Ken-Betwa Link Project is yet to receive full forest clearance and a petition challenging its environmental approval is also pending before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and NGT believes that the project must first secure forest clearance.

Way forward

• The potential adverse impacts of the proposed dam on the flow of water into and outside of the sanctuary must be studied thoroughly.
• Further, experts have also suggested that the restoration and revival of Chandel-era lakes and ponds in the Bundelkhand region will be a more economical and faster solution to the problem of water scarcity in the region as the region receives adequate annual rainfall.
• An independent hydrological study of river Ken is to be undertaken and it is to be seen that no developmental project should affect the ecology of any fragile ecosystems and important tiger reserves in the country.