Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh): Here is a solution at sight for the decades-long vexed Cauvery River Water Dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry. The Centre will soon take up a major project to link Cauvery in Karnataka and Godavari in Andhra Pradesh that will put an end to the imbroglio.
Making an announcement at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh yesterday, Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari said that every year, about 1,100 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of Godavari water is going waste into the Bay of Bengal while there is a dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. So, we have taken the decision to take Godavari water to Tamil Nadu and that will resolve all water issues among four States, Gadkari noted.
The project will cost up to Rs. 60,000 crore and the detailed project report for linking rivers Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Cauvery is ready. “We will soon present it to the Cabinet for approval. Thereafter, we will raise finances for the project either from the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank,” he told BJP workers at a meeting.
The Godavari water will thus be taken to the tail-end of Tamil Nadu and a special technology, suggested by a US-based engineer from Andhra, of using steel pipes would be used for linking Godavari and Cauvery instead of canals en route.
“We have decided not to use canals as it results in water (evaporation) losses. Low thickness steel pipes with a special treatment will be used that will also save the project cost significantly,” Gadkari said. It was former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who conceived the idea of linking rivers from Ganga to Cauvery, he recalled.
It is a shame that you have to report the Hon. gentleman’s ridiculous and outdated comment that river water is “going to waste”. This theory was debunked many decades ago, and those who understand concepts of hydrology know that the flow passing through a river is essential for many roles, including the very serious one of recharging groundwater. By moving water out of the Godavari basin, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana will themselves become victims of river water deficit and the crisis of groundwater depletion.
To do something positive for Cauvery, first address the issues that mean it too is dying. End forest clearance; stop building water-wasting dams; end wasteful irrigation; stop illegal pollution; take action against deadly illegal river sand mafias; insist that rainwater harvesting laws are upheld; spread messages about the importance of water conservation in households.