From Vajpayee's Vision To Modi’s Execution: Long-Delayed Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal Project Finally Comes Through

A tripartite agreement was signed between the Centre and the state governments of Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Rajasthan for the Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal Link project on 17 December.

This comes decades after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee supported the vision of interlinking rivers, and set up a task force under the chairmanship of Suresh Prabhu to check the feasibility of river-linking projects.

The preliminary feasibility report (PFR) of the Kalisindh-Chambal link canal project was first prepared and circulated among the concerned state governments in September 1991.

However, the then-MP government did not find the project economically viable on account of its low benefit-cost ratio and internal rate of return.

The project was then modified into the Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal (PKC) Link to accrue more benefits by increasing the quantum of water for diversion.

However, river-linking projects were put in cold storage when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power in 2004.

They were revived only after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power in 2014 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The water resources minister at the time, Uma Bharti fast-tracked river-linking projects for the consenting states. However, the PKC Link project could not get going in 2014 after objections were raised by the MP government.

"Sometimes MP did not agree, sometimes Rajasthan did not agree to certain conditions," Abhay Kumar, an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer in Rajasthan, told Swarajya.

Now that the issues are resolved after decades of effort, Kumar said, "Give credit to statesmen. All this could be achieved because everyone was brought to the table to discuss."

The Politics Around It

In his public address in Jaipur, PM Modi blamed the Congress for the delay in the PKC project, as well as for the delay in the East Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP), which is set to be linked with the PKC project.

"Instead of solutions, Congress promoted water disputes among states. ERCP was delayed by Congress, but BJP accepted and expanded it because our policy is not of disputes but talks," the PM said at the event.

PM Modi might be referring to the fact that the Congress came to power in Rajasthan and MP after the 2018 assembly elections and suggesting that that was why the project was stalled.

"As soon as BJP governments were formed in MP and Rajasthan (after the 2023 assembly elections), an agreement on the PKC Link project was reached. This image of the Centre's Water Minister and the CMs (chief ministers) of the two states is extraordinary," PM Modi said.

Following the oath-taking ceremony of the two CMs in December 2023, both the state governments signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Jal Shakti Ministry on 28 January 2024.

The preparation of a detailed project report (DPR) for the PKC Link began along with the integration plan of this link to the ECRP, called the Modified PKC (MPKC) Link.

Thereafter, the MP and Rajasthan governments signed an MoU on 30 June in Bhopal in the presence of Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma and MP CM Mohan Yadav, followed by the signing of this tripartite MoU on 17 December in Jaipur.

However, the opposition Congress in Rajasthan, making a counter-claim, said that the ERCP was delayed by the BJP and that without the Centre's funds, former CM Ashok Gehlot approved Rs 10,000 crore for the ERCP.

Gehlot also demanded to make the MoU of the project public. "People have the right to know whether this project will be beneficial for Rajasthan. The newly signed agreement is being kept a secret," he said.

Many details are not out as yet. The DPR for this project is being made by the National Water Development Agency (NWDA). Under NWDA's direction, Wapcos has already prepared the DPR for the Rajasthan side of the project.

The DPR will be made public only after the approval of the Central Water Commission (CWC). But the secrecy around the project has given ammunition to the opposition to create misinformation around it.

"This project is bound to remain on paper. That's what the BJP does. Nobody will benefit from it," a Congress office-bearer in Shivpuri's Kolaras told Swarajya.

However, the MP government appears to be proactive in this regard. CM Yadav has been talking about the advantages of the river-linking project on various platforms and has asked other public representatives to do the same.

Various events were organised by the members of legislative assemblies (MLA) in their respective areas to celebrate the agreement. They are fighting misinformation to win the public's trust.

The MPKC Link Project

The Rs 72,000-crore MPKC Link project will be constructed with 90 per cent contribution from the Centre and 10 per cent from the states. Works worth Rs 35,000 crore will be carried out in MP and worth Rs 37,000 crore in Rajasthan.

MP will get 17 new dams and four barrages, while Rajasthan will get three new dams and five barrages. Works in the upper Chambal basin will come through in phase 2.

For phase 1, the Navnera-Galwa-Bisalpur-Isarda (NGBI) Link project is sanctioned in Rajasthan. It will be completed in three packages. The Prime Minister has already inaugurated the Navnera barrage, constructed at a cost of Rs 1,069 crore on the Kalisindh river.

In package 1, the Ramgarh and Mahalpur barrages will be constructed along with the Navnera pump house, and the feeder from the Navnera pump house to the Mez barrage will be constructed as part of package 2.

Package 3 will have feeder construction from Mez to Galwa to Bisalpur and Isarda, with pump houses at Mez and Galwa. Phase 1 is expected to be wrapped up in four years.

This link will get water from the Ramgarh barrage on Kool river, the Mahalpur barrage on Parvati river, and the Navnera dam, and will invest Rs 9,416.7 crore on constructing a canal network, pumping station, and pipeline for this purpose.

In MP, Guna will get the most irrigation projects, five, including the Nainagarh barrage and three micro-irrigation projects, followed by Ujjain, where four irrigation projects, including two micro ones, are planned.

Shivpuri will get three irrigation projects, and Sehore will get a complex lift and micro irrigation projects. Morena, Dewas, Shajapur and Rajgarh, Agar Malwa, Indore, and Mandsaur will get one project each.

Furthermore, a 60-year-old Chambal canal will be modernised in Bhind and Sheopur. These works are targeted to be completed in eight years.

Project's Benefits

It would be stating the obvious to justify the water needs of arid areas like west MP and east Rajasthan, both covered by the project. Irrigation water availability is the focus of the MPKC project in MP, while drinking water availability is the focus in Rajasthan.

CM Yadav has set a target of achieving irrigated land of 1 crore hectares in MP, up from the present 50 lakh hectares. But thousands of hectares of irrigated land are also receiving water from tubewells, stressing the underground water table.

A farmer from Sumawali in Morena told Swarajya, "The old Chambal canal is inefficient. The farmers are compelled to use borewell water for irrigation. Only a few farmers are able to use canal water."

He explained further that when adequate water is not given to crops, the yield drops and sometimes crops also get damaged, asserting the need for adequate water supply.

Similar is the story of a Dewas farmer. He also shared that the biggest concern in the Malwa region of MP was that previously proposed reservoirs in this project would submerge many villages.

It is believed that due to these concerns, the project was delayed for long. However, now, with micro-irrigation projects, such concerns have been minimised.

Rajesh Sonkar, the MLA from Dewas' Sonkatch, assured people of his constituency: "Earlier there were concerns about submergence; 66 villages were estimated to be submerged. But under the new project, not even a single village will be submerged."

In MP, the project will benefit 2,012 villages across 11 districts. Just over 6 lakh hectares of additional land will come under irrigation coverage, while drinking water will be ensured for 40 lakh people.

With the modernisation of the old Chambal canal, 1,205 more villages in the districts of Bhind, Morena, and Sheopur will have irrigation water, benefiting 3.62 lakh farmers.

In total, 3,217 villages of 13 MP districts of Guna, Morena, Shivpuri, Bhind, Sheopur, Ujjain, Sehore, Mandsaur, Indore, Dewas, Agar Malwa, Shajapur, and Rajgarh will benefit.

In Rajasthan, 3.25 crore people living in 21 districts of Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Boondi, Tonk, Sawai Madhopur, Gangapur City, Dausa, Karauli, Dholpur, Bharatpur, Deeg, Alwar, Khairtal-Tijara, Kotputli-Behror, Jaipur city, Jaipur Rural, Dud, Ajmer, Byawar, and Kekdi will get drinking water.

Though the focus of this project in Rajasthan is drinking water availability, the MPKC Link will also support the irrigation of 4.03 lakh hectares of land. Additional land of 2.5 lakh hectares will come under irrigation coverage, and the 1.5 lakh hectare irrigated land will get additional water supply.

The MPKC Link project is just one of many river-linking projects underway in the country. PM Modi is set to perform the bhoomi pujan of the Ken-Betwa Link project in MP on 25 December.

These projects are expected to minimise flood and drought situations while ensuring water availability round the year. The decades of delay inconvenienced crores of people; nonetheless, the projects have got going.