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The river linkages payoff
The lure of gigantism today is the prospect of large and easy kickbacks,
says Prashant Bhushan.
The
clandestine and insidious manner in which a gargantuan project of
interlinking of rivers has suddenly become the most important project on the
national agenda is a great tribute to the ability of this government to use
the President, the judiciary and the media to legitimise a project which was
unthinkable a year earlier and will unquestionably be ruinous for the
nation.
Consider
the facts:
The
precursors to the project for interlinking the rivers were the Ganga Cauvery
link proposal mooted by K.L. Rao and the Garland Canal idea put forward by
Captain Dinshaw Dastur in the Sixties. They were both examined and found
impractical, the former on the grounds of the very large financial and
energy costs involved, and the latter because it was technically unsound.
Moreover,
since then, with the growth of the understanding of environmental and
ecological connections, it has been realized that large dams and irrigation
projects cause enormous disturbances to the environment and ecology. These
include submergence of forests and agricultural lands, loss of biodiversity,
changes in river morphology and water quality, disruption of habitats of
wildlife, waterlogging and salinity, reduction in downstream flows,
reduction of freshwater inflows into the sea and the consequent impacts on
aquatic life, etc.
The
various movements and agitations on behalf of the oustees of such projects
have also focused attention on the enormous injustice that has been done to
them, rendering them homeless, landless and rootless by their involuntary
displacement. Simultaneously, there is also been a realisation that
rainwater harvesting or Micro watershed development are far quicker and more
economical ways of harnessing water.
Recently,
the World Bank along with several other international agencies formed a
World Commission on dams to do a retrospective study of the overall impact
of large dams and irrigation projects around the world. This commission had
members from the dam construction industry as well as from environmental and
social activist organisations which had been opposing large dams. The
commission gave a unanimous report, mainly pointing out that the costs of
large dams had been largely underestimated and the benefits exaggerated. The
environmental and social impacts of such projects had largely been left out
in the cost benefit calculations.
The
India Country Study which had been conducted by some of the most eminent
experts in the country concluded: "It is evident that past (large dam)
projects, in general, have not been comprehensively assessed in terms of
their environmental, social and economic viability and optimality… Also,
the distribution of most of the costs and benefits of large dams seems to
accentuate socio-economic inequities."
Despite
all this, a conspiracy appears to have been hatched at the top echelons of
the government to somehow bring this massive river linking project on the
national agenda. On Independence Day last year, a paragraph was added in the
President's speech to the effect that the problems of floods and drought can
perhaps be solved by interlinking the rivers.
This
paragraph was enough for a lawyer appointed by the Supreme Court as amicus
curiae (to assist the court) in the Yamuna pollution case to file a short
application praying that the court should direct the government to take up
this project. As if on cue, the bench headed by the then Chief Justice
B.N.Kripal issued notices to all the States and the Centre. On the next day
of hearing, which was the day before the retirement of the then Chief
Justice, an order was passed which is now effectively being treated by the
government as a direction by the court to undertake this project and
complete it within the shortest possible time.
The
order noted that only the Union of India and the State of Tamilnadu had
filed responses to the notice issued by the court. It stated that the Union
of India pointed out that the project would cost Rs 5,60,000 crores, would
take 43 years, and would need the consent of the States. The State of
Tamilnadu had filed an innocuous affidavit, virtually saying nothing. The
court noted that no other State had filed any affidavit and therefore it
could be assumed that none had any objection to the implementation of this
project!
After
orally noting that funds cannot be any constraint for the government for a
project in national interest, the court observed in its order that the
project should be completed within 10 years! It also went on to advise the
government that in case consent was not forthcoming from the States, the
government should consider passing a legislation to obviate consent of the
States for this project.
All
this for a project which would require funds equal to the total irrigation
budget of the country for the next 44 years, if the Ninth Plan expenditure
is any guide. And all this without hearing any interested party, not even
the States, without any discussion or debate whatsoever, without completing
even feasibility studies, leave aside the question of social, environmental,
economic or optimality assessments! Such is the casual nonchalance with
which this country is being pushed to a course which would have unparalleled
and unprecedented, financial, social and environmental consequences.
Such an
order from the court was all that the government needed to immediately go on
a public relations offensive to bring this project on the national agenda,
characterising it as a court approved or court directed project. It
immediately formed a task force, consisting of mainly civil engineers who
had been involved in dam construction or officials who had been connected
with the water resources Ministry, to draw up detailed plans for the
implementation of this project.
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It is this ability of the governments of the
day to sell illusions and outright lies by using the media, (see
how the US government has sold the war on terror there) which
has now emerged as one of the most serious threats to democracy
in our times.
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Such is the speed with which the task
force has been proceeding with this project, that it has submitted a report
to the court recently, saying that it will, during this year itself, begin
work on one or two links at least. All this, without even a feasibility
study, what to say of a detailed project report. The effort seems to be to
somehow make this a fait accompli before there can even be a serious debate
about the pros and cons of such a massive undertaking, an undertaking more
than 10 times the size of any project ever undertaken in this country. It is
being assumed that all the planning process necessary for such projects
including environmental clearance etc will be short-circuited, as all in
authority will be told that this is a court directed project and is topmost
on the national agenda. The project is being projected as the lifeline of
India in much the same manner as the Sardar Sarovar project has been
projected as the lifeline of Gujarat.
It is
this ability of the governments of the day to sell illusions and outright
lies by using the media, (see how the US government has sold the war on
terror there) which has now emerged as one of the most serious threats to
democracy in our times.
It does
not take much technical knowledge to understand why the interlinking of
rivers is an absurd idea and a ruinous project. Before one can think of
bringing water from long distances, one must first store at least the water
which is falling over one's head. It has been found that the cost of
rainwater harvesting is on an average 1/5 of the cost of harnessing the same
water by bringing it over large distances after storing it in large dams.
Therefore it makes no sense to think about bringing water from far, unless
one is being able to save and utilise the rainwater falling in the area.
Moreover,
such a project would involve enormous social and environmental upheaval and
enormous conflict between States. If the Cauvery dispute which is only
between 3 states on the sharing of water of one river is any indication,
imagine what will happen when water from several rivers is taken to other
rivers across several states. It will also be an administrative nightmare.
Yet,
despite such fundamental considerations, the central government wants to
push this project, which would require the total irrigation budget of the
country for more than 44 years, without any public debate and without any
planning. And this at a time when we are not able to get Rs 1,00,000 Crores
to complete our incomplete and long overdue irrigation projects. Nor are we
able to maintain and optimally use existing irrigation infrastructure or use
rainwater where it falls.
It is
not difficult to understand the motivations of those who control the
government. If 5,60,000 crores is to be spent through a centralized pipeline
as will be the case in this project, the potential for huge kickbacks are
enormous. 10% of this is 56,000 Crores. Even if you spread it over 20 years
it means 2,800 crores a year! Not small pickings even from today’s
standards.
Why
else should there be such an unseemly hurry to undertake such a massive
project? Why else would the normal planning process be short circuited? Why
else would the task force say that it will begin work on one or two links
this year without knowing which link and without doing even a feasibility
study of the links that it wants to take up.
If only
Rs.10 lakhs on an average were given to each of the less than 1 million
villages in the country for rainwater harvesting on the lines pioneered by
the Tarun Bharat Sangh in Rajasthan, much of the agricultural land in the
country could be irrigated. This would mean a total outlay of less than
1,00,000 Crores for the country (less than 20% of the cost of this project).
Such a project could be implemented in 2 years if the funds and technical
knowledge were made available to each village.
But
people who rule this country know that they could hardly take 10% from the
funds allocated to each village without being caught. It is only when the
funds go through a central pipeline through a few large contractors that
such large kickbacks can reasonably be taken. That is why this preference
for such large centralized projects.
If the
Rs 14,000 Crores that have already been spent on the Sardar Sarovar Project
had been spent on rainwater harvesting in Gujarat, every single village of
Gujarat would have been drought-proofed long ago. But even after 24 years
since the project started, we are nowhere near the completion of the
project, which is likely to take at least another 25 years and will cost
another at least Rs 30,000 Crores. During all this time, there has been and
will be no funds left for any other minor or micro irrigation projects or
for maintenance and repair of existing infrastructure in the State since the
Sardar Sarovar has and will continue to swallow the entire irrigation budget
of the State and more.
Jawaharlal
Nehru is credited with having called large dams, "temples of modern
India". But no textbook recalls what he said soon thereafter. He said:
"For some time past, however, I have been beginning to think that we
are suffering from what we may call, "disease of gigantism". We
want to show that we can build big dams and do big things. This is a
dangerous outlook developing in India…. the idea of having big
undertakings and doing big tasks for the sake of showing that we can do big
things is not a good outlook at all…We have to realise that we can also
meet our problems much more rapidly and efficiently by taking up a large
number of small schemes, especially when the time involved in a small scheme
is much less and the results obtained are rapid. Further, in those small
schemes you can get a good deal of what is called public co-operation, and
therefore, there is that social value in associating people with such small
schemes."
Now,
however, we have traveled long and far since the time of Nehru. The manner
in which the government is pushing the project for interlinking the rivers
leaves little doubt that the lure of gigantism today is the prospect of
large and easy kickbacks.
Unfortunately,
these are the base considerations on which the future of the country and its
people is being mortgaged.
Courtesy http://www.indiatogether.org
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