Context: Environmental groups in Karnataka have criticized the Bedti-Varada Interlinking Project in Karnataka calling it unscientific and a waste of public money.

Bedti-Varada Interlinking Project

• The Bedti-Aghanashini-Varade river-linking project was also included in the country’s major rivers project devised by the then PM Vajpayee government.
• The Central Government had created a task force to prepare action plans for interlinking the riverbeds in 2002.
• The project cost and the source of investments were ascertained and suggested that the project be taken up in 2016.

About the project

• The Bedti-Varada project was envisaged in 1992 as one to supply drinking water by the then government.
• The plan aims to link the Bedti, a river flowing west into the Arabian Sea, with the Varada, a tributary of the Tungabhadra river, which flows into the Krishna, which in turn flows into the Bay of Bengal.
• A massive dam will be erected at Hirevadatti in Gadag district under the project. A second dam will be built on the Pattanahalla river at Menasagoda in Sirsi, Uttara Kannada district.
• Both dams will take water to the Varada via tunnels of length 6.3 kilometres and 2.2-km. The water will reach at a place called Kengre.
• It will then go down a 6.88 km tunnel to Hakkalumane, where it will join the Varada.
• The project thus envisages taking water from the water surplus Sirsi-Yellapura region of Uttara Kannada district to the arid Raichur, Gadag and Koppal districts.

Why are activists opposing the project?

• ??Difficult to redirect river: It is difficult to redirect a westward-flowing river to flow eastward.
• Rain-fed Rivers: In early summer, the Bedti and Varada rivers begin to dry up. Hence, interconnecting these rivers under the pretext of providing drinking water despite knowing well that they do not flow all year is wrong.
• Environmental Impact: Over 500 acres of forests will be lost. The end result will be that there will still be no water. Moreover, the Bedti valley has been designated as an active biodiversity zone by IUCN.
• Impact Livelihoods: The Bedti and Varada rivers are also lifelines for thousands of farmers in the Malenadu region, the foothills of the Western Ghats, in addition to fishing communities along the coast.

Road Ahead

• Interlinking of rivers has its pros and cons, but given the economic, political, and environmental implications, it may not be a wise decision to carry out this project at a centralized national level.
• Instead, interlinking rivers may be pursued in a decentralized manner, and more sustainable ways like rainwater harvesting should be promoted to mitigate floods and droughts.