New panel to discuss linking of rivers

The government has constituted a committee under VK Duggal, secretary in the ministry of water resources, to carry out consultations with various groups and state governments on the inter-linking of rivers (ILR).

Secretaries in the ministry of social justice and empowerment and ministry of environment and forests have also been made part of the committee in order to assess the social and the environmental effects of river-linking projects.

Besides, there will be 10 other non-official members including social scientists and other experts. Sociologist Rajinder Singh, environmentalist Ashok Khosla and water resources expert Z Hasan are also on the committee.

"The committee has been constituted in the background of the fact that the National Minimum Programme of the UPA Government had indicated that it will make a comprehensive assessment of the feasibility of linking the rivers of the country, starting with the southern rivers, and this assessment will be done in a fully consultative manner," said an official release.

As a follow-up, the ministry of water resources has carried out the assessment of this programme in consultation with various stakeholders, including the state governments. Water Resources Minister PR Dasmunshi had made a presentation to the prime minister on the inter-linking of rivers in October.

It has been decided by the government to pursue the programme with a focus on the peninsular component.

The committee will advise the government on the environmental and socio-economic issues covered in the terms of reference for preparation of detailed project reports.

It will also prepare rehabilitation and resettlement packages for those who could be affected by the ILR programme.

The committee will also assess the need to conduct additional studies for addressing any other concerns in the ILR programme.

It will also analyse the impact of the proposed inter-basin transfer of water links on settlements, occupations and other socio-economic activities, while preparing the reports.

It will work out appropriate measures for optimum utilisation of transferred water, especially in basins short of water while preparing these reports.