Two of Maharashtra government's four intra-state river linking projects, Damanganga-Ekdare-Godavari and Damanganga-Vaitarna-Godavari, that envisage transfer of surplus water from Damanganga and Vaitarna to the deficit Upper Godavari basin, will be considered by the Centre's expert appraisal committee for river projects on Tuesday. In July, the state cabinet had given an in-principle nod for these two projects. They are part of the BJP-led government's larger river-linking blueprint to tackle drought in the next five years, if it returns to power for a second term.
These four intra-state projects were proposed by the state after it walked out of two inter-state river-linking projects with Gujarat, following disagreements over water sharing. The other two intra-state links are Nar-Par-Girna and Par-Godavari river projects. Chief minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis, in an interview this month, told Hindustan Times that his government plans to divert a total of 167 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) from west-flowing rivers in Konkan to Marathwada and urban Maharashtra, including Mumbai, and another 100 TMC water from Wainganga to Vidarbha.
The Damanganga-Vaitarna-Godavari project envisages divergence of 202 million cubic meters (mcm) of water from Damanganga-Vaitarna basins to Dev river, a tributary of Godavari, from five proposed dam reservoirs. The waters will have to be brought to existing Kadva reservoir and Dev river in Godavari through several lift systems (150-260 metres) and tunnels. The project will mainly benefit domestic and industrial users, including the proposed Sinnar investment region under Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor and farms in the taluka. Meanwhile, the Damanganga-Ekdare-Godavari project envisages diverting 143 mcm water from Damanganga at proposed Ekdare dam to the existing Gangapur reservoir on the Godavari river through a lift system. A total of 70 per cent of water is to be allocated for irrigation purposes and the remaining 30 per cent for domestic and industrial use for Nasik.
However, several leading state hydrology and water sector experts have criticised the state's plan as myopic and environmentally harmful. "The inter-linking of rivers will prove to be economically and environmentally disastrous for the state. It will benefit politicians and contractors, as it means big tenders can be given out. Recent floods in Kolhapur and Sangli showed how unprepared we are vis-a-vis dam management, and such river-linking will lead to bigger dams. We don't have the capacity to pull off these kinds of multi-layered and complicated projects," said professor Pradeep Purandare, water expert and member of the expert committee that drafted the state water plan in 2018.
Purandare admitted that the committee had mentioned these projects in the Godavari river basin plan but had recommended that this be considered only as a last resort by the government. He added that the government's approach was based solely on statistical hydrology and not environmental hydrology, according to which the natural course of rivers should not be meddled with.
"The studies for both these projects, done by the National Water Development Agency, are outdated and poor. The Damanganga-Ekdare report goes back to 2010 and Damanganga-Vaitarna-Godavari report is from 2014. So the data available is non-reliable. More importantly, the state must focus on rainwater management and river basin management before approving costly river-linking projects," said Himanshu Thakkar, co-ordinator for South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP). SANDRP, an organisation working in the water and environment sector, plans to write to the EAC listing out the flaws in the proposed projects.
"Given the state's topography and drought history, river-linking projects are crucial. They are the only way to tackle drought as well as our increasing urbanisation and industrial needs. Why should we let waters go waste?" asked a senior water resources department official. He added that he saw no hurdles in getting terms of reference cleared for both these projects.
