"There are less disruptive and cheaper alternatives than connecting rivers to reduce the misery of floods and droughts."
As plans for inter-basin transfers of water across vast distances, from surplus to deficit areas, appear to have got a lot of attraction for a country exposed all too often to droughts and floods, these need to be seriously evaluated and debated. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : A river sutra, without links
In practice, people in so-called surplus areas do not agree that they have spare water which can be transferred to other, faraway areas. At a time when there are problems relating to the sharing of waters, transfer of water across distant areas can easily aggravate these tensions. This should be avoided.
Also, any neat division between "deficit" and "surplus" areas becomes more of a problem in these times of climate change when erratic weather patterns are more frequently seen. The tensions are likely to be much greater when inter-basin transfers also involve neighbouring countries. Given the real world of shifting rivers, land slides, seismic belts, etc. it makes the task difficult, enormously expensive, energy-intensive and hazardous. We also have not explored how the bio-diversity flourishing in a particular river system will react when it is linked to another river.
A combination of traditional water-collection/conservation practices and other drought-proofing methods — which also use modern technology — still provides the best available answer (also the cheapest one) to water scarcity in drought-prone areas. A good drainage plan — so that flood water clears quickly — combined with a package of livelihood, health, education and other support suited to the needs of flood-prone areas and communities is what is really needed.
In practice, people in so-called surplus areas do not agree that they have spare water which can be transferred to other, faraway areas. At a time when there are problems relating to the sharing of waters, transfer of water across distant areas can easily aggravate these tensions. This should be avoided.
Also, any neat division between "deficit" and "surplus" areas becomes more of a problem in these times of climate change when erratic weather patterns are more frequently seen. The tensions are likely to be much greater when inter-basin transfers also involve neighbouring countries. Given the real world of shifting rivers, land slides, seismic belts, etc. it makes the task difficult, enormously expensive, energy-intensive and hazardous. We also have not explored how the bio-diversity flourishing in a particular river system will react when it is linked to another river.
A combination of traditional water-collection/conservation practices and other drought-proofing methods — which also use modern technology — still provides the best available answer (also the cheapest one) to water scarcity in drought-prone areas. A good drainage plan — so that flood water clears quickly — combined with a package of livelihood, health, education and other support suited to the needs of flood-prone areas and communities is what is really needed.
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