Long pending Ken- Betwa river link project is the first project of national perspective plan (NPP) for interlinking of rivers. Under this project, water from the Ken river will be transferred to the Betwa river. Both these rivers are tributaries of river Yamuna.The road to propose Ken-Betwa link project was no cakewalk for the Union Government. It took 16 years of continuous efforts at both state and central level to mediate a settlement between the states in two phased approval. The project is intended to provide irrigational and drinking water to the parched Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The river linking project is expected to cost Rs 44,500 crore.. As the project has been deemed a “national project”meaning the Centre will foot 90 per cent of the cost while the remaining 10 per cent will be shared by the two states.The union cabinet cleared the funding and implementation of the project and sanctioned Rs 39,317 crore for it.
Initially to be completed in two phases in the original Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the ambitious Ken-Betwa link project of the Bundelkhand region but the Ministry of Water Resources has now merged the two phases together, altering the original project design at the request of the Madhya Pradesh government. Due to this, the Ministry is working on some necessary clearances in relation to this project. Four dams will be built in the Ken Betwa Link Project. Apart from Dhaudhan dam, three more dams will also be built on the Betwa River in Raisen and Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh. This Daudhan Dam, with 77 meters high and 19633 square kilometers of catchment capacity, will have 2584 MCM water storage capacity on the Ken River. This dam costing 2613.19 crore will create two power houses, which will generate 36 MW power. An amount of Rs 341.55 crores will be spent on this power house. This project is being seen as a green area in Chhattarpur district of madhya pradesh.
As per available information, Phase-I will involved one of the components — Daudhan Dam complex and its subsidiary units such as Low Level Tunnel, High Level Tunnel, Ken-Betwa Link Canal and power houses. Phase-II will involve three components — Lower Orr Dam, Bina Complex Project and Kotha Barrage.This project can transform 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. There are 9 districts of Madhya Pradesh and 4 districts of Uttar Pradesh that are benefiting from this – Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen in MP. Whereas in UP, Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur districts are likely to get the maximum benefit. Ken-Betwa Link Project Authority (KBLPA) will be formed to complete this project. Under this project, a dam in Dhaudhan village of MP, a pump house in Kotha village, a dam on the Ayer river in Didauni village and 4 storage dams in Bina complex are to be built. While two new barrages near Bariyarpur in UP, a Special Purpose Vehicle and a Steering Committee will be formed for the implementation and management of the project.There will be a total of 30 such projects.
The project is expected to provide annual irrigation to 10.62 lakh hectares of land — 8.11 lakh hectares in MP and 2.51 lakh hectares in UP. Besides, it aims to provide drinking water supply to a population of 62 lakh in the two states. It will also generate 103 MW hydropower and 27 MW solar power. Official sources said that for this mega project,, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has selected 13 villages adjacent to the tiger reserve and sent the proposal to the forest department. The department has done satellite mapping of these villages. Now NWDA will hand over the land to the department after giving compensation to the concerned villagers, then somewhere the Madhya Pradesh Tiger Reserve will send the proposal to hand over the land to the NWDA.6017 hectares of land is needed for the project. Of this, 5500 hectare area is in Panna National Park. 4200 hectares of the core area of the park and 1300 hectares of buffer area are going under submergence.
The villages of Amanganj area, which have 8873 hectares of land.Kathari-Bilhara, Koni, Majhauli, Gahadra, Marha, Khamri, Kudan, Pathapur, Naigwa, Dungaria, Kadwara, Ghughri, Basudha have been selected for park expansion. NWDA will have to pay Rs 6500 crores in compensation. The project has long been quoted as the dream project of former prime ministeri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.Th MP Chief Minister thanked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and the Union Cabinet for approving the project. The BJP, in its 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto, had promised to implement the project.
The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) is the River interlinking project that aims to transfer surplus water from the Ken river in MP to Betwa in UP to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region. The region spread across the districts of two states mainly Jhansi, Banda, Lalitpur and Mahoba districts of UP and Tikamgarh, Panna and Chhatarpur districts of MP. The NPP for transferring water from water-surplus basins to water-deficit basins was prepared in August 1980. Hope after completion, this mega project will convert the thrusty Bundelkhand zone into a green and wet area with plenty of water. .
Nausheen Khan 
Related Items
Mathura: Boat capsizes in Yamuna river in Vrindavan, 10 dead
Maha women's panel chief quits after link with rape accused surfaces
PM Modi hails Tamil as India’s link to world in Malaysia