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The interlinking of rivers can provide viable solutions to the multi-dimensional inter-related problems of droughts, floods and interrupted navigation. Critically examine.
Approach · directive: “critically examine”
What it asks · Assess whether linking rivers can solve droughts, floods and navigation problems, weighing benefits against ecological, financial and federal costs.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- Examine the case for interlinking as a solution to droughts, floods and interrupted navigation
- Examine the concerns: hydrological, ecological, financial and federal
- Give a reasoned verdict and the way forward
Open with · The National Perspective Plan (1980) proposes moving surplus water to deficit basins through Himalayan and Peninsular components, with 30 identified links; Ken-Betwa is the first under way.
Cover
- Drought: Ken-Betwa to irrigate 10.62 lakh ha and supply drinking water to about 62 lakh people in Bundelkhand.
- Floods: storing monsoon peaks could moderate floods in the Ganga-Brahmaputra plains.
- Navigation and power: link canals extend waterways (National Waterways Act 2016); Ken-Betwa adds 103 MW of hydropower.
- Precedent: Periyar Diversion and Indira Gandhi Canal already move water across basins.
- Hydrology: true surplus is rare; floods peak together across basins; lean-season flows stay thin.
- Ecology and cost: deltas, wetlands, Panna Tiger Reserve; Ken-Betwa at Rs 44,605 crore over eight years.
- Federal: water a State subject; Article 262; implementation depends on States' consensus despite the Special Committee (2014).
- Verdict: case-by-case, consensual, ecologically vetted links paired with demand management.
Close with · Rivers carry sediment, fish and culture as well as water; a few well-chosen, consensual links, backed by water saved on farms, will do more than a continental canal grid.
Add value (verified)
- Water is mainly a State subject, and Article 262 lets Parliament provide by law for adjudicating disputes over inter-State river waters, the legal backdrop to any link across State lines.The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2024), Article 262(1) — Legislative Department ↗“Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-State river or river valley.”
- The National Perspective Plan for water resources development dates from 1980 and has a Peninsular and a Himalayan component.Features, Details and Status of Inter-Linking of Rivers — PIB (Ministry of Jal Shakti), Lok Sabha reply ↗“The National Perspective Plan (NPP) for Water Resources Development was formulated by the Government of India in 1980. The NPP comprises of two components, viz; Peninsular Rivers Development Component and Himalayan Rivers Development Component.”
- Thirty link projects have been identified under the NPP.Features, Details and Status of Inter-Linking of Rivers — PIB (Ministry of Jal Shakti), Lok Sabha reply ↗“Out of 30 identified link projects under the NPP”
- A Special Committee on Interlinking of Rivers was set up in September 2014, but implementation depends on the States reaching consensus.Features, Details and Status of Inter-Linking of Rivers — PIB (Ministry of Jal Shakti), Lok Sabha reply ↗“has been constituted in September, 2014 for the implementation of ILR programme. The implementation of the ILR link projects depends upon the concerned States to reach a consensus on related issues.”
- The Ken-Betwa link is to irrigate 10.62 lakh ha, supply drinking water to about 62 lakh people and generate 103 MW of hydropower.Cabinet approves Ken-Betwa Interlinking of Rivers Project — PIB ↗“The project will provide an annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh ha, drinking water supply to a population of about 62 lakhs and also generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW solar power.”
- The Cabinet approved the Ken-Betwa link at a cost of Rs 44,605 crore, to be completed in eight years.Cabinet approves Ken-Betwa Interlinking of Rivers Project — PIB ↗“Project shall cost of Rs.44,605 crore and shall be completed in 8 years”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 16 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 363words · Minimalist IAS
The National Perspective Plan (1980) proposes moving surplus water to deficit basins through a Himalayan and a Peninsular component, with 30 identified link projects. Since 2020, the Ken-Betwa link (Cabinet approval, December 2021) has moved ahead as a test of how far this can cure droughts, floods and broken navigation.
Interlinking as a solution
- Drought: Ken-Betwa is to irrigate 10.62 lakh ha and supply drinking water to about 62 lakh people in drought-prone Bundelkhand.
- Floods: storing monsoon peaks in the Ganga-Brahmaputra basins could moderate recurring floods.
- Navigation and power: link canals can extend inland waterways under the National Waterways Act 2016; Ken-Betwa also adds 103 MW of hydropower.
- Precedent: inter-basin transfers such as the Periyar Diversion and the Indira Gandhi Canal already move water across divides.
✏️ Map to sketch in the exam · Ken-Betwa: the first river link under way
- districts: Panna (Madhya Pradesh), Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh), Tikamgarh (Madhya Pradesh), Banda (Uttar Pradesh), Mahoba (Uttar Pradesh), Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh) = Bundelkhand districts to be irrigated by the Ken-Betwa link (PIB 2021)
Draw on India's official outline (Survey of India boundary).
The concerns
- Hydrology: a link works only if the donor basin has a true surplus; floods peak in the same weeks across basins, so diversion cannot absorb them, and lean-season flows stay thin for boats.
- Ecology: reduced flows starve deltas, wetlands and fisheries; Ken-Betwa's dam takes forest in the core of the Panna Tiger Reserve, and submergence displaces families.
- Cost and time: Ken-Betwa alone was approved in December 2021 at Rs 44,605 crore (2020-21 prices) over eight years, while watershed works, micro-irrigation and recharge cost far less per hectare.
- Federalism: water is largely a State subject and Article 262 leaves inter-State disputes to Parliament's law; a Special Committee has existed since September 2014, yet links still wait on States' consensus.
Verdict and way forward
- Verdict: interlinking can meet specific, local deficits, but not the seasonal and spatial mismatch behind most Indian floods and droughts.
- Way forward: take up consensual links case by case, with independent environmental and social appraisal, and pair each with demand management, watershed works and groundwater recharge.
Rivers carry sediment, fish and culture as well as water; a few well-chosen, consensual links, backed by water saved on farms, will do more than a continental canal grid.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 16 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
