Godavari-Kaveri river linking project update: The Narendra Modi government has made the draft Detailed Project Report (DPR) for linking the three rivers – Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri ready, said Rattan Lal Kataria, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti & Social Justice and Empowerment in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. The minister said that the project to connect the rivers includes three links — Godavari (Inchampalli/Janampet)-Krishna (Nagarjunasagar), Krishna (Nagarjunasagar)-Pennar (Somasila) and Pennar (Somasila)-Cauvery (Grand Anicut). According to the draft DPR, around 247 TMC of water can be diverted from Godavari river to Nagarjunsagar dam through lifting and further south for meeting the demands of Krishna, Pennar and Cauvery basins.
“The cost of the project has been estimated as Rs 60,361 crore at the financial year 2018-19 price level by National Water Development Agency (NWDA),” the minister told the upper house. He further said that the stage of implementation of a project would be finalised only after the final DPR is prepared. This would be done with the consensus of the concerned states and only after the requisite statutory clearances are obtained. He also said that the pooling of resources will be decided after completion of the final DPR.
Meanwhile, the proposal for linking these rivers has been around for many years. The Godavari has been prone to flooding whereas Krishna, on the other hand, doesn’t have enough water. On September 15, 2016, water from the Godavari river was diverted to the Prakasam barrage on Krishna river, 124 km away.
Last year, Nitin Gadkari, the then Water Resources Minister had said that Godavari-Kaveri river linking project would resolve the water disputes of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The project will make use of 1,100 tmc ft water of Godavari which is currently being wasted by going directly into
