Central officials study state's river linking

It was not part of the original plan for the Sardar Sarovar Project. But the state government has successfully interlinked 11 rivers through the Narmada canal system.

The central government officials, who are yet to implement the ambitious river interlinking programme, have been visiting the state to see how interlinking has been made possible in Gujarat.

The interlinking scheme has brought water to some major cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Gandhinagar. The state government has now drawn up a project where the interlinking scheme can be connected to the check dams scheme. This will ensure that check dams are filled all the year.

"When Narmada canal was constructed about four years ago and water started to flow into the canal, we thought of connecting Narmada to other rivers in the state. Today, ten rivers are already connected to the Narmada and when the Saurashtra branch of the canal will be completed in less than two years, 30 rivers will be interlinked," said S K Mohapatra, managing director of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd.

"Our river interlinking project has even caught the attention of the central government. Officials overseeing implementation of the proposed river interlinking project of the central government have been visiting the state regularly to study the situation here."

So far, Narmada water has been diverted into nine rivers through the Narmada canal. These include the Sabarmati, Mahi, Heran, Orsang, Karad, Saidak, Mohar and Watrak.

The interlinking and inter-basin transfer of water has helped in irrigating areas around the Shedi Canal (Mahi basin) and Fatehwadi Canal (Sabarmati Basin). The Narmada Main Canal project is still under implementation with 263 kms of the total 532 kms being completed.

Out of the 185 rivers in Gujarat, only eight are perennial and are located in just 20 per cent area of the state, mainly in the southern and south-east areas.

Once complete, the NMC will help irrigate 18 lakh hectares of land in Gujarat.