No one needs the Ken-Betwa Link Project
8 April 2021
The
people of Bundelkhand certainly need better water access and
management. But the Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP), estimated at a cost
of Rs 38,000 crore, is not the solution. The project will, on the
contrary, lead to huge adverse impacts in the region.
The
Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), in a most
remarkable report of August 30, 2019, had raised fundamental questions
not only on the appropriateness of the wildlife clearance given to the
project, but also the viability, optimality and desirability of the
project. It estimates that the KBLP will lead to a loss of “10,500
hectares of wildlife habitat” in the Panna Tiger Reserve. The project
developers are yet to provide a detailed response to the report and the
court is yet to hear the matter.
The detailed project report of
KBLP prepared by the project proponent National Water Development
Agency (NWDA) says: “The main objective of the Ken-Betwa link project
is to make available water to water-deficit areas of the upper Betwa
basin… ”
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