Uma Bharti’s River Diversion Plan Could Be a Terrible Idea

The Water Resources Minister wants to link rivers, but environmentalists say there could be consequences.

More than 300 million people in India are affected by drought, according to government estimates, and the outlook for the coming decades suggests relief may not come anytime soon.

Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti has a plan to alleviate drought-related suffering. But the consequences of a project like this have not been properly assessed, concerned environmentalists say.

Any day now, she will launch a 20-30 year project to link rivers across the country, Bharti told the BBC this week. The project is estimated to cost as much as Rs 20 lakh crore.

It’s an idea Bharti has had since the 1990s. Rivers such as the Ken and Batwa would be tied together by canals and water would be rerouted from the Ganga and Brahmaputra to the dry areas.

But environmentalists are skeptical. Many say a project this large could have significant ecological impact.

The project is based on the idea of diverting water from where it is surplus to dry areas but there has been no scientific study yet on which places have more water and which ones less.

Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network for Dams, Rivers and People

Any drastic changes in the country’s landscape could have an impact on wildlife in and around rivers, experts from the River Research Centre say. Rivers are not just sources of water, they are tied to ecosystems, communities and livelihoods.

Climate change already poses a threat to these systems and the hundreds of millions of people who depend on them. Warmer temperatures are accelerating glacier melt, and by the end of the century, many of the glaciers that feed India’s rivers could be gone.

A plan like Bharti’s will undoubtedly have an impact on people downstream from canals and diversion projects. Bangladesh has expressed concerns about what this will mean for the 54 rivers it shares with India.

Government officials say this should not be a problem.

The Indian government is addressing Bangladesh’s water problems too. We don’t have the details, but we will ensure Bangladesh gets its share of water too.

Spokesperson from the Water Resources Ministry told The Guardian

The plan will need clearance from the environment ministry before construction begins.