Recently the central government has constituted Ken-Betwa Link Project Authority (KBLPA).
- The Central Government has constituted KBLPA and a National Steering Committee to interlink Ken and Betwa rivers.
- The KBLPA has been formed as a part of the National Water Development Agency. It will include secretaries from the Ministries of Environment, Power and Tribal Affairs. All central funds for the project will be routed through KBLPA.
About National Steering Committee:
It will be headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Functions of National Steering Committee:
- It will approve the basic administrative policies, bye-laws and norms for KBLPA.
- It will approve/ scrutinize the annual budget and financial statements.
- It will resolve any operational issues at the implementation level.
- It should meet at least twice a year. There will be a quorum (quorum) of 2/3 of the total members.
About Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP):
- Under this project, the water of Ken will be transferred to Betwa river.
- Its objective is to overcome the perennial water scarcity in the drought affected areas of Bundelkhand. This region is spread over the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Concerns related to Project:
About 7.6% of the total area of Panna Tiger Reserve will be submerged by the Dodhan Dam to be built on the Ken river.
Ken-Betwa Link Project
- The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) is the first project under the National Perspective Plan (NPP) for interlinking of rivers. It has been considered a “National Project”.
- The draft of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for five other river interlinking projects namely Damanganga-Pinjal, Par-Tapi-Narmada, Godavari Krishna, Krishna-Pennar and Pennar-Cauvery has also been finalised.
Source – The Hindu
