Ministry mulling reservoirs on Ganga to store rainwater

The Ministry of Water Resources is contemplating construction of reservoirs across the river Ganga to store rainwater during monsoon to maintain the water flow throughout the year.
The ministry is, however, exploring ways to ensure these reservoirs do not interrupt free flowing of the river water.
The new initiative is likely to be carried out by the Central Water Commission involving public participation, senior Water Resources Ministry officials said.
"Several reservoirs can be built across Ganga to store rainwater during the monsoon. The stored water can then be used when the river dries up," the sources said, citing similar rivers which dry up during the summer.

Another advantage of conserved water is that it could also be utilised for organic farming and power generation besides various other purposes, the sources added.
Though the concept is conceived for Ganga, it may be gradually expanded for other rivers in the country, which shrinks in the summer.

Meanwhile, the ministry has also decided to implement the Ken-Betwa interlinking river project in a single phase, instead of the proposed two phases.
Projected as the first project to be taken up under NDA government's ambitious plan to interlink rivers of the country, the project envisages diversion of surplus water from the Ken basin to the water-deficit Betwa basin.

The project would have a dam on Ken river along with a 221-km link canal.
It is estimated that the project would provide annual irrigation for 6.35 lakh hectares and supply drinking water to 13.42 lakh people. It would also facilitate generation of 78MW hydropower in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.