Ken-Betwa river interlinking approved by Cabinet

The Union Cabinet today approved a long-delayed project to interlink Ken and Betwa rivers which is expected to benefit about six lakh hectares of farmland in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The project involves construction of a 221 km-long canal linking the two rivers at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore, sources said.
The project envisages diversion of surplus water of Ken basin to water-deficit Betwa basin.
The canal will pass through six districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. While Jhansi, Mahoba and Banda are situated in Uttar Pradesh, Chhatarpur, Panna and Tikamgarh are located in adjacent Madhya Pradesh.

Out of the surplus water of Ken basin, a major part will be utilised in Ken-Betwa link.
The remaining 591 MCM will be delivered to Betwa river to provide water to water-short areas of upper Betwa basin by substitution, keeping in mind the requirements of Ken basin involving both the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in view and ensuring equity, optimisation of water use and cost effectiveness.

Ken-Betwa link is one of the 16 river-linking proposals under Peninsular Component of National Perspective Plan (NPP) for Water Resources Development for which feasibility report was prepared by National Water Development Agency in 1995 and circulated among the concerned state governments.

A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding was signed among the union government and governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on August 25, 2005 in the presence of the Prime Minister for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project.
The DPR was prepared in two phases, which were completed in 2011 and early 2014 respectively.