Bhubaneswar: While the Union government is planning to link major river systems of the country, it has totally ignored ecological and economic feasibility of the project which will also adversely affect the wildlife, said experts at a seminar on this crucial scheme here Sunday.
Although the project’s proponents claim it to be a one-stop solution to myriad natural disasters like drought, flood and water scarcity, they have considered only the technical feasibility aspect, opined experts at the Inter-Linking of Rivers: Problems and Prospects seminar organised by Orissa Environmental Society (OES).
“The project has not even made the environmental impact assessment. For example, 8,650 hectares of Panna National Park in Madhya Pradesh is likely to be submerged if rivers in that state are linked. Such a project will also affect the ecology,” said Binayak Rath, a renowned environment and water management expert.
Rath, who was also the former vice chancellor of Utkal University, claimed the project will lead to more human-animal conflict in Orissa.
“The project will result in construction of cannels and force wild animals to enter human areas for water,” Rath said. Significantly, He also highlighted that linking Mahanadi and Godavari will not benefit the state.
“There is no excess water in Mahanadi to share. Both these rivers often face flood and water scarcity at the same time. So even this rivers-linking project is not beneficial,” he added.
Many experts claimed that water conservation measures are far better than rivers linking projects.
“More than 50 per cent of Mahanadi water flows into Bay of Bengal. Water conservation project and effective water management strategies are better than inter linking rivers,” said eminent environmentalist and OES president Sundara Narayana Patro.
Experts also reached at a consensus that inter linking rivers in the current form is impractical.
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