Inter Basin Water Transfer Link Project of India

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Nepal has no official knowledge of mammoth Indian
Suvecha Pant
KATHMANDU POST
July 28, 2003

Despite claims from Indian officials that Nepal has already been consulted about its huge river-linking project, senior Nepali officials deny any official contact from the Indian government.

"No official information has come from the Indian government regarding this issue," said Dr Kishore Babu Aryal, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources. He added that this issue was of a government-to-government level and therefore was of concern of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

But the Foreign Ministry too denies official knowledge. Dr Madan Kumar Bhattarai, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Kathmandu Post that to his knowledge there had been no official words from the Indian government on the project.

"We also have had no requests from the concerned ministries regarding any potential threats by the project," said Dr Bhattarai. He added that only after the concern Ministries gave their doubts on this issue would the Ministry of Foreign Affairs take it up with the Indian government.

The denial is in sharp contrast to the official claim of India that Nepal has been contacted over the mammoth project. Chairman of the Indian river-linking task force Suresh Prabhu, claimed that Nepal is positive about the scheme. "We have been talking to Nepal and the reaction is favourable," said Prabhu as quoted by the Indian Express in the March 2, 2003 issue.

The Indian project is of significance to Nepal since it envisages, among others, linking rivers flowing from Nepal to India through a series of dams and canals. The backwards flow created by the project is likely to affect large tracts of Nepali land, experts express concerns.

"If transfers are based on large reservoirs in Nepal, there will be substantial inundation of land in Nepal," said Prof. Jayanta Bandhopadhyay, water resource expert, Centre for Development and Environment Policy at the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata.

Prof Bandhopadhyay, who also worked in Nepal for five years, added that since the ecohydrology of the Himalayan rivers was not yet well understood, major engineering constructions would carry a risk factor. "These risks may realise themselves as human induced floods, which will be of special significance for Nepal, Bihar and northern West Bengal," he said.

Similarly, Bhuvanesh Kumar Pradhan, former Water Resource secretary of HMG said that it was necessary for the government to take this issue up with the Indian government. "If we do not bring this issue up right now, it might be too late later," he said.

Since the project was first unveiled by India, it has run into controversies both inside and outside India. The 5.6 trillion Indian rupee project envisages linking 37 rivers all over the Indian landmass, 11 of which are in the Himalayan foothills.

The National Water Development Authority (NWDA) of India has completed feasibility studies of eight links, and pre-feasibility studies of 30 links. The waters of Nepal’s main river-systems like Koshi, Gandaki, Karnali and Mahakali will be canalised to India’s drought-hit places through constructions of dams, diversion works and canals. The project, when complete in 15 years, is expected to irrigate an additional 150 million hectares of land and generate 36,000 MW of electricity.

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