Pennar-Cauvery linking proposal a boon for Karnataka

Bengaluru: The announcement of Pennar-Cauvery river linkage by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman in her budget on Tuesday has kindled hopes of mitigation of Karnataka's interstate water dispute with Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry as the southern riparian system will be flush with water. This is the second river water linkage system announced by the Finance Minister, the first one being the Krishna and Godavari which will service the northern plains of the State adjoining Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The Godavari-Cauvery link project is planned in two phases. Phase-I relates to identifying the surplus waters in the Godavari basin without affecting the interests of the co-basin States and transferring these waters up to Cauvery through the Godavari-Cauvery link project, and Phase-II relates to linking Brahmaputra-Ganga-Subernarekha-Mahanadi-Godavari rivers thus enriching the Phase-I with suitable modifications.

The draft Detailed Project Report of Godavari-Cauvery link has been prepared considering the Phase-I option only as per the existing National Perspective plan, for water resources development through inter-basin transfer of water, for transferring water from water surplus basins to water-deficit basins. Under the NPP, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has identified 30 links (16 under Peninsular Component and 14 under Himalayan Component) for preparation of Feasibility Reports (FRs). The budget proposal 2022-23 has only rekindled it with budgetary allocations.

The recent political turmoil over the Meke Daatu and the yearly recurring inter-State Cauvery water sharing dispute with Tamil Nadu had been the product of deficit water in the Cauvery basin. "If the Pennar river is linked to the Cauvery this dispute will be forgotten as the water inflow into the linkage barrage and the downstream canals will become perennial sources of water," said the water activists and farmers along the Cauvery river course.

The Government of Tamil Nadu requested that the last leg of the Godavari-Cauvery link project, namely, Pennar-Palar-Cauvery link canal reach may be taken at a higher elevation after crossing the Palar river by pumping from Dusi Mamandur Tank and terminating at Kattalai barrage instead of Grand Anicut in Phase-I itself. A preliminary draft concept note has been prepared by NWDA on the suggested higher-level canal alignment. However, the same is subject to establishing its techno-economic viability.

­Further, the Government of Tamil Nadu requested that the Poondi reservoir may be linked with the Araniyar reservoir so that 609 tanks with a capacity of 15 TMC can be filled. However, integration of Araniyar reservoir with Poondi reservoir is linked with the firming up of Phase-II of the proposal which also is a part of the budget proposal