The ambitious Ken-Betwa river linking project was one of the key highlights of the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s presentation of the Union Budget 2022 on Tuesday. The implementation of the project has been announced at a sum of Rs 44,605 crore, and gains in importance ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and five other states.
The Ken-Betwa project is set to benefit the drought-prone region of Bundelkhand, which is spread across 13 districts in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The Centre has announced the implementation of the project at a time when at least seven districts of UP in the Bundelkhand region will be casting vote in the third, fourth and fifth phases of the assembly polls.
During her budget speech, Sitharaman said, “The implementation of Ken Betwa Linking project at an estimated cost of Rs 44,605 crore to be taken up with irrigation benefits to 9 lakh hectare farmland, drinking water to 62 lakh people, 103 MW hydropower. 27 MW solar power generation,” adding, “Rs 1,400 crore allocated in 2022-23.”
Apart from this, the other agricultural highlights of the Union Budget 2022 include “kisan drones”, Rs 2.37 lakh crore direct payment of MSP to 1.63 crore farmers, a fund with blended capital for agri startups, as well as promotion of chemical-free natural farming across India.
Sitharaman further said along with the Ken-Betwa project, five more river linking projects were being processed and their detailed reports (DPR) were being prepared. This is the first project to be taken up as part of a countrywide plan to connect rivers so as to enable water from surplus areas to address scarcity.
The Cabinet had approved the Ken-Betwa project back in December last year and said it will pave the way for more river linking projects in the country. Under this project, surplus waters from the Ken basin will be transferred to the water-deficit Betwa basin. Both rivers are tributaries of the Yamuna. The ministry said the amount of water to be diverted from the Ken basin is 1,020 million cubic metre. For this purpose, the Daudhan dam (the Lower Orr project, Kotha Barrage) and a canal linking the two rivers (the Bina Complex Multipurpose project) will be constructed. The canal will be 221 km in length and will also have a 2-km long tunnel.
The state-of-art project is expected to completed in eight years. Districts such as Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen in Madhya Pradesh and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh are being targeted by the project.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as well UP CM Yogi Adityanath both hailed the project. Chouhan thanked the Centre for approving the Ken-Betwa river link project. “This is a budget for the common man; to benefit the poor, lower middle class, middle class. Allocation of Rs 1400 crore for the Ken Betwa Linking project will change Bundelkhand. This budget will double farmer’s income,” Chouhan added.
The project is expected to improve socioeconomic situation in the backward Bundelkhand region. It targets increased agricultural activities and employment generation. While the Centre has promised that the project provides for environment management and safeguards, many environment and wildlife activists have opposed the project saying it will lead to large-scale destruction of wildlife habitat due to the felling of trees.
The Bundelkhand region is home to the critically endangered vulture and gharial and other species like leopard, sloth bear among others. According to reports, over 9,000 ha will be submerged for the project. Of this, 6,000 ha are part of the Panna tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh. The project works will also involve felling over 20 lakh trees.
Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha and former environment minister, Jairam Ramesh also criticised the Centre for announcing the implementation of the Ken-Betwa project. He said, “On the one hand, the Budget talks of climate action and protecting the environment. On the other, it pushes ecologically disastrous river-linking projects. Rhetoric sounds nice. But actions matter more. On that front, the Modi government is on a destructive path.”
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