Ken-Betwa project to cause ‘large-scale’ deforestation

The Ken-Betwa river-linking project, whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, has faced criticism for the environmental impact it will have on forests and ecology.

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While the project received environmental and wildlife clearances from the Union Environment Ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) and the National Board of Wildlife, the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in 2019 had flagged the project that involves large-scale deforestation inside the heart of the Panna Tiger Reserve.

The project that will be implemented in two phases envisages transferring water from the Ken river to the Betwa river. The interlinking project will be implemented in eight years. It aims to provide irrigation and drinking water supply to the water-scarce Bundelkhand region of both Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

The 6,400 hectares of forest area coming under submergence is covered by dense to moderate forests. The CEC had in its report had pointed out that the project would defeat the purpose of successful tiger reintroduction in Panna Tiger Reserve that helped the tiger population bounce back from local extinction.

“No developmental project should destroy the ecology of remnant fragile ecosystems and an important tiger habitat in the country. In an ideal situation, it would be best to avoid such projects in such wilderness with protected area status and specifically when it runs the risk of providing justification or unhealthy precedence for more such developmental projects within the protected areas. It will not be in the interest of wildlife and the overall well-being of society in the long term,” the Central Empowered Committee report said. The report said that the forest land involved in submergence is a unique ecosystem of morphological significance with unique and rich biodiversity in the region and that ecosystem cannot be recreated.

Last year, researchers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, said that movement of large quantities of water from surplus to deficit water river basins could lead to rainfall deficit by 12 per cent in September. The study shows that interlinking of rivers could lead to change in soil moisture leading to changes in precipitation patterns.

“We find that increased irrigation from the transferred water reduces mean rainfall in September by up to 12 per cent in already water-stressed regions. Reduced September precipitation can dry rivers post-monsoon, augmenting water stress across the country and rendering interlinking dysfunctional,” the research said.