The Hindu : National : 'River-link project will be reviewed'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 25, 2004

National

National

'River-link project will be reviewed'

By Gargi Parsai

P.R. Dasmunshi

NEW DELHI, MAY 24. The new Union Minister for Water Resources, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, will review the controversial inter-linking of rivers project in its totality. He also promised to review the National Water Policy to "update it" and give it more focus and emphasis.

Speaking to The Hindu after taking charge of his Ministry here, Mr. Dasmunshi said that he would look into the observations of the task force on the inter-linking of rivers (headed earlier by the former Minister, Suresh Prabhu of the Shiv Sena) with regard to the feasibility of the 30 links proposed and the costs involved. The programme is estimated to cost Rs. 5.6 lakh crores and has a time frame of 10 years.

Mr. Dasmunshi said he would study the two action plans submitted by the task force to the Ministry and discuss with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, the future course of action.

He thanked Mr. Suresh Prabhu for his work and for "ascertaining facts," but said that such an exhaustive study cannot be done in the limited time frame allotted to the task force.

Asked about the rehabilitation and resettlement of people with regard to the proposed inter-linking of rivers and the controversial Sardar Sarovar project, Mr. Dasmunshi said his objective was to give the highest priority to "human problems, environmental issues and also future hazards that might come up in the execution of any project."

Mr. Dasmunshi, who draws inspiration from Rabindranath Tagore, said rehabilitation should be given due consideration. "The country needs water augmentation on an aggressive scale, but certainly not at the cost of human problems and adding injury to human habitation. We must find a collective and harmonious approach to the whole issue rather than an approach of confrontation."

Asked about the Ministry, during the NDA regime, having taken recourse to judicial intervention on implementation of major water issues including the inter-linking of rivers, the Cauvery dispute, the Sardar Sarovar project and the Sutlej-Yamuna link canal, he said, "While I respect the judicial pronouncements and tribunal awards, I equally respect the objective assessment of several patriotic NGOs and a balance must be found between the two without undermining either."

As for now, he said his priority would be the completion of the ongoing and the proposed projects and the Ninth plan backlog which had not been executed till now. "Principally, this will be the task for half of the year."

Reflecting on the water scenario, Mr. Dasmunshi said 40 per cent of the total irrigated land took care of the optimal height of the first Green Revolution. "The balance, unless it gets extra support — considering the way the population is growing — needs harnessing on three counts: minor irrigation [up to 2000 hectares], medium irrigation [between 2000 and 10,000 hectares] and mega irrigation [beyond 10,000 hectares]. Unless that happens, the task of the 10th and 11th plan would remain unfulfilled."

The second aspect that needed attention was the flood and drought-prone zones.For Mr. Dasmunshi, a student of Literature, the Ministry of Water Resources is a "new horizon," but he believes that "whatever the task, we must think of the fate of the people."

Mr. Dasmunshi was earlier the Minister of State for Commerce in the Rajiv Gandhi Government from 1986 to 1989.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National