Interlinking of rivers, a dream project of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has now been taken up by chief minister Vasundhara Raje. Rajasthan has kicked off preparations for first interlinking project in the state to address its drinking water and irrigation requirements.
To tap rain water going waste every monsoon, the Brahmani and Banas rivers are proposed to be interlinked by digging a tunnel between the two. “There are plans to bring water from Brahmani river to Banas and then to the Bisalpur dam, built on the Banas, for meeting the future requirement of water in Jaipur and Ajmer,“ said an official of water resources department.
Currently , rain water flowing in Brahmani river goes untapped as it mixes with Chambal river which eventually meets Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh. According to an estimate, at least a total of 355 million cubic meter water every monsoon can be utilized by inter-linking which otherwise goes waste.
Work has been allotted to PDCOR (a company jointly promoted by the Government of Rajasthan and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited), which is conducting a detailed study on how to bring water from the Brahmani river to Bisalpur.
PDCOR, has given three options to the state government. However, the third is not feasible as it advocates linking of the Kota barrage with the Banas river directly through a tunnel.
The first option proposes linking the Brahmani river with Banas by constructing a dam on Brahmani. From the dam a tunnel is proposed to be dug ending at Banas some 38 kilometers before Bisalpur dam.
The second option talks of linking the Brahmani river with Banas some 10 kilometers before Bisalpur dam. It is planned in such a way that the tunnel would connect the two rivers at a point closest to the Bisalpur dam so as to decrease chances of wastage of water through seepage or theft.
A final call on either of the options is yet to be taken. The estimated cost of the project is Rs.6,000 crore while the project is to expected to take 4 to 5 years to complete.
According to an estimate, Bisalpur dam caters to the water needs of 50-60 lakh people but by 2050, the number of those dependent on Bisalpur would double. The idea is to plan long term and cover more areas in Tonk and Nagaur districts too apart from Jaipur and Ajmer.
Since the project is in the initial stages, a detailed study is yet to be completed. The alignment of the tunnel is also to be decided. Tenders are to be issued after completing the detailed study . Also clearance from environment, forest departments and sanctuaries in the area is required.
Challenges: There is a pact between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan government on Chambal water. The left main canal (LMC) of Chambal river supplies water for irrigation in Bundi and Kota region while the right main canal of Chambal river supplies water in MP for irrigation. The project has to be designed in such a way that it does not affect the pact by “disturbing“ Chambal river. So, the project is planned in such a way to tap the rain water in Brahmani river before it meets Chambal river.Also, water will not be taken from Chambal river, but it will be collected from catchment area of Rana Pratap Sagar dam on the Chambal river.
Chambal river originates in Madhya Pradesh and enters Rajasthan at Chaurasigarh of Chittorgarh district. As the Chambal river moves in the state, it enters Kota district from Chittorgarh. In Chittorgarh's Rawatbhata, there is a Rana Pratap dam on Chambal river. During monsoon, huge amount of water gathers in the catchment area of the
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