Current General Studies Magazine: "The Ganga-Cauvery Link Canal" March + April 2015

Current General Studies Magazine (March + April 2015)

General Studies - I: Geography Based Article (The Ganga-Cauvery Link Canal)

This project was prepared by the United Nations team at the request of the Government of India. It was proposed by the then irrigation minister Dr. K.L Rao in 1950s. The project aimed at reducing the impact of floods in the Ganga basin and supply water to central and eastern parts of the country which suffer from chronic problem of water shortage. This link canal was to take off near Patna, pass through the basins of the Son, the Narmada, the Tapi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Pennar rivers, and join the Cauvery upstream of the Grand Anicut. Water from Patna barrage will be lifted by large pumps to a point near the boundary of the basins of the Ganga and the Narmada from where it will be distributed by gravity via dug up canals or through existing rivers to the west or south. Flood waters of the Narmada and the Godavari could also be used. However, it was pleaded that water from the Ganga for the inter-basin transfer could be drawn only during four months of rainy season from July to October when the flow of water in the Ganga river exceeds 2,850 cumecs (1,00,000 cusecs).

The proposed Ganga-Cauvery Link Canal was to have been 2,640 km long, withdrawing 60,000 cusecs. from the flood flows of the Ganga for about 150 days in the year, and would have involved a lift of a substantial part of water over 450 metres. From Patna, water would be pumped into a series of reservoirs between water sheds of the Narmada and the Son. From Bargi reservoir on the Narmada (423 m), a linked aqueduct will carry water to south utilising the natural course of the Wainganga, Pranhita and Cauveri and crossing the Krishna and the Pennar to Cauvery upstream the Upper Anicut. It is also proposed to supply about 300 cumecs (10,000 cusecs) of the Ganga water to different parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chattisagarh and Madhya Pradesh by pumping additional water during the lean season. Water would also be diverted to partially meet the demands of chronically drought prone areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The scheme has been thoroughly examined and found impractical because of the huge financial costs and very large energy requirements. Moreover environmental issues put great hindrances in the way of this project. However, the idea survives in the popular mind and comes up whenever water scarcity is felt and conflicts (such as Cauvery dispute) become acute.