Ken-Betwa linking project: For want of water, a river may be lost

Estimated to cost Rs 35,000 cr, the link will transfer surplus water from the river basin of the Ken to that of the Betwa

Since the 1980s, when it was planned, the Ken-Betwa river linking project has had two words attached to it – “pending” and “devastating”.

The project was pending because Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh could not agree to a water-sharing formula. It was devastating because villages, forests, river ecology stood to face havoc if the project came up.

The “pending” tag went when the Union Jal Shakti ministry facilitated a deal between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, both BJP-ruled states, for the project on March 22, World Water Day.

Devastating tag still remains.

Claims and counterclaims

Estimated to cost Rs 35,000