Interlinking of Ken and Betwa river is the first project in the Government of India's proposed ambitious scheme to interlink rivers (ILR). It proposes to transfer 1.020 billion cubic metres (BCM) annually from the Ken to the Betwa river basin. It is intended to create a new irrigation potential of over 6 lakh hectares in the Bundelkhand regions of U.P. and M.P. at an estimated expense of Rs. 4000 crore. The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has already completed the feasibility study of this link but it lacks a Detailed Project Report (DPR).
At the request of Tarun Bharat Sangh, PSI has completed an impact assessment of the Ken-Betwa interlinking project, under the guidance of a group of experts, including Dr. G.D. Agrawal (former Prof. of Env. Engg, IIT Kanpur), Er. P.C. Tyagi (former Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board), Er. O.N. Garg (former Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department, U.P.) and Dr R.H. Siddiqi (former Professor of Env. Engg, Aligarh Muslim University). The study report is to be completed in March 2007. |
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In October 2005, PSI commenced a three years action research programme under the CGIAR-sponsored Challenge Programme Water & Food. Its goal to identify enhanced sustainable livelihood opportunities and reduced vulnerability of the poor rural people through integrated water and forest management in the upper Himalayan catchments of India and Nepal. An analytical review of the existing policy, legal and institutional frameworks for natural resource management in Uttarakhand has been completed. It provides insights into the constraining and facilitating factors to integrated resource management. PSI has conducted an assessment of livelihood security is being carried out in ten villages the Lastargad watershed of the Mandakini river to estimate the gaps in the availability and demand for resources, using PRA methods, household surveys, biomass estimation, etc. Participatory work plans are being developed to enhance livelihood security and minimize the gaps between resource needs and availabilities. These will be scaled up to the sub-basin level in the last year of the project. PSI is also undertaking hydrological and soil and forests productivities studies in the selected watershed. |
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