Author(s): K. S. Murty
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Abstract: Water,the heart of the Indian economy,plays a crucial role inthe development plans of the country.The average rainfall comesto around i25 cm,but the entire precipitationis concentratedwithin some 3 to 4 months of the year,invariably causing floodsin some river basins during that period and droughts when themonsoon ceases or fails.More than a tenth of the country'stotal area is prone to floods while about one-third of the countryis drought-prone.The average annual quantifiable monetary lossesdue to floods have been estimated at Rs.12,000 million and thosedue to drought at Rs.20,000 million and the Government spends onan average Rs.10,000 miilion on flood relief and Rs.2,000 mill-ion on drought relief per year!The Indo-Gangetic plain and theBrahmaputra basin in the extra-peninsular India mainly and theGodavari and Krishna basins in peninsular India are flood-prone.In order to control floods and reduce or eliminate the droughtproblem,several schemes have been suggested in the past thatenvisage diversion of waters from the extra-peninsular riversto the peninsular rivers.In the National Water Resources Deve-lopment Perspective,it is proposed to transfer water fromthe norhtern river basins to the southern river basins,but inthe first instance the peninsular rivers would be linked,workin that direction having been initiated recently.Even todaya Hindu deems it his duty to go on_pilgrimage to the Ganga,collect its water,proceed to the Indian Ocean and pour itin those waters and revisit the Ganga!But,when the riverwaters are diverted from the north towards the south,what wouldhe do?
Year: 1989