The Ken-Betwa Project: Huge outlay, questionable benefits, and high social and environmental costs.

On March 22, 2021, PM Narendra Modi presided over the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh that will launch the Ken-Betwa River-Linking Project. This project is part of the years-old national river linking scheme, which proposes to connect 14 Himalayan and 16 peninsular rivers with 30 canals and 3000 reservoirs in order to irrigate 87 million ha of land.

Under the Ken-Betwa Project, water from the Ken river will be transferred to the Betwa river. Both the rivers are tributaries of river Yamuna, but Ken is supposed to have excess water, which would be fed to Betwa through dams, tunnels, canals, and barrages. 

The project is located in Bundelkhand, a drought-prone region, which spreads across 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The Union Jal Shakti Ministry claims that the project would provide annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh ha, supply drinking water to about 62 lakh people, generate 103 MW of hydropower, facilitate groundwater recharge, and reduce the occurrence of floods.

The project cost estimate is Rs.35,000 crore at 2017-18 prices, with the Centre contributing 90% of it. It will take eight years for completion.

The Ken-Betwa Project was first proposed in the 1980s, later the Vajpayee government took it up seriously, and more recently, the former Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti has been a great supporter. 

The environmental and social costs of the project will be huge:

• 12,500 ha of land will be submerged by the project, of which more than 9000 ha are categorised as forest land. 
• The submergence area will include an important section of the Panna Tiger Reserve. (This Reserve has been commended for the successful improvement of tiger and vulture populations.)
• 23 lakh trees with a girth of 20 cm or more will be cut down.. 
• Many wildlife species will be affected including tigers, endangered vultures, mahseer fish, and gharials in the Ken Gharial Sanctuary.
• Ten villages, including Daudhan, are expected to be submerged, displacing over 10,000 people.

The project has been pending for many years since it could not get all the required environmental clearances:

• It must get clearance from the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court, which had raised concerns about the project. 
• The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) applied for forest clearance in 2015, but the Stage I forest clearance accorded in May 2017 stipulates several conditions that would imply a fundamental restructuring of the project. The conditions include that the proposed 78 MW power house shall not be constructed in the forest area and that no building material is to be taken from the forest, among others.

Environmentalists and local groups also question the supposed benefits of the project:

• The claims of Ken having surplus water may be unrealistic as the river is not perennial. Sometimes it slows to a trickle. 
• The Ken River flows 60-70 feet lower than the Betwa and at least 30% of the 103 MW power generated will be used for pumping the water up. 

In spite of these issues, the governments concerned seem to be going ahead with the project.

(This post is based on several news reports, including those by Himanshu Thakkar and Sunny Sebastian in 'The Hindu')