Ken-Betwa River Link Project

The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Writ Petition (Civil) No. 512 of 2002 “In Re: Networking of Rivers” along with Writ Petition (Civil) No. 668 of 2002 ordered that the Ken-Betwa River Link Project be taken up for implementation in the first instance.

On the basis of Memorandum of Understanding signed between the States of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh dated 25.8.2005, Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of KBLP Phase-I & II have been prepared and shared with the concerned States of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The Project has already received the following mandatory clearances:

1.        Techno-economic clearance has been accorded by the Advisory Committee on Irrigation, Flood Control & Multipurpose Projects of Ministry of Water Resources, RD & GR in its meeting held on 8^th July, 2016. 

2.        The MoEF&CC issued wildlife clearance on 21^st September, 2016.

3.        Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of MoEF&CC considered environment clearance in its first meeting held on 30^th December, 2016 and recommended the project for grant of environmental clearance.

4.        On the basis of recommendations of the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), Central Government has granted the approval of Stage-I Forest Clearance for KBLP Phase-I vide MoEF&CC letter dated 25^th May, 2017.

5.        Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has examined the case and accorded the clearance vide their letter dated 4^th January, 2017.

6.        The project proposal of KBLP has been recommended by the Investment Clearance Committee of the Ministry in its 5^th meeting held on 10th February, 2017 and the same has been considered acceptable for investment in the State Plan with an estimated cost of Rs. 18057.08 crore at Price Level 2015-16.

The KBLP will provide irrigation to an area of 6,35,661 ha annually (3,69,881 ha in MP and 2,65,780 ha in UP) in the Chhattarpur, Tikamgarh and Panna districts of Madhya Pradesh and Mahoba, Banda, Lalitpur and Jhansi districts of Uttar Pradesh. In addition, the project will provide 49 million cubic meter (MCM) of water for enroute drinking water supply to population of 13.42 lakh of UP & MP.  The project will also generate 78 MW of power. The total construction period of the Project is about 8 years. A Draft Cabinet Note for implementation has been circulated on 30^th May, 2017 to concerned Ministries/Departments for their comments/views.

This Project was reviewed at a high level and it was decided that Ken-Betwa Link Project   (KBLP)   should   be   taken up for implementation through   an SPV consisting of NHPC and representatives of Governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. 

The status of the Project was further reviewed at a high level on 04.07.2017 with Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh and Principal Secretary, Irrigation Department, Uttar Pradesh. The Government of Madhya Pradesh has proposed that Kotha Barrage, Bina Complex and Lower Orr Dam be also included in the Project. Their status is as under:

Project	Status
Lower Orr	DPR of lower Orr Dam submitted to CWC for appraisal on 4th  July, 2017 – Under examination in CWC
Bina Complex	DPR is under appraisal in CWC. The compliance to the CWC observations is yet to be submitted by GoMP.
Kotha Barrage	DPR of Kotha Barrage has been submitted to CWC for appraisal, in March, 2017 – Under examination in CWC.
Left  out areas in phase 1	The proposal is being prepared and will be submitted to CWC for appraisal by 31.7.2017.

This would also affect the initial allocation of water between the two States as per the 2005 agreement.  It was therefore, decided that both the State Governments should work out an agreement on mutual water sharing to take KBLP forward. The implementation of KBLP would be taken up once the two States have reached an agreement on water sharing.

No area of land turned barren due to lack of irrigation in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh during period has been reported to the Ministry.

This information was given by Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. 

Courtesy: pib.nic.in