River interlinking is an ambitious project of central government to link surplus river basin with deficient river basin to solve surplus and shortage problem of various regions of the country. Recently Bihar and Assam faced the flood situation diverting of water through inter linking can solve the crisis.
Points in favour are as:
- Prevention of floods.
- Perennial water to drought prone areas.
- Increase in the use of river water before its mixing with sea water.
- Change in the agriculture pattern as a result of increase in the availability of water.
But all said there are problems also associated with:
- Minimum hydrological flow has to be maintained in river for survival of water ecosystem.
- Not an economical exercise as topography is highly undulating.
To conclude, River interlinking has two sides, where at one side it does solve the problem to some extent but at other end it creates new problems and also it needs enormous funds and diversion of pristine forest areas as many rivers flow through them. If advantages outweigh disadvantages then it can be a transformation in the country.
