8. Not many years ago, river linking was a concept but it is becoming reality in the country. Discuss the advantages of river linking and its possible impact on the environment. (150 words) 10M
Ans. Interlinking of rivers is nothing but joining the rivers of the country by networks of canals and reservoirs. The Indian Government had established the National Water Development Agency to study the interlinking of rivers under the Ministry of Water Resources . Many states have proposed for interlinking of rivers due to scarcity of water in their states and hence the Central Government is working on a few projects.
River linking will have multidimensional benefits for the country. Some of them are
· The main occupation of rural India is agriculture and if monsoon fails in a year, then agricultural activities come to a standstill and this will aggravate rural poverty . Interlinking of rivers will be a practical solution for this problem , because the water can be stored or water can be transferred from water surplus area to water deficit region.
· Interlinking of rivers will also have commercial importance on a longer run. This can be used as inland waterways and which helps in faster movement of goods from one place to other.
· Interlinking creates a new occupation for people living in and around these canals and it can be the main areas of fishing in India.
However, river linking will also pose some environmental challenges like
· Interlinking of rivers will cause huge amount of distortion in the existing environment . Jn order to create canals and reservoirs, there will be mass deforestation . This will have impact on rains and in turn affect the whole ecological cycle of life.
· Due to interlinking of rivers, there will be decrease in the amount of fresh water entering seas and this will cause a serious threat to the marine life system and will be a major ecological disaster.
· Due to the creation of Canals and Reservoirs, huge amount of arealvhich is occupied by the people wil be submerged leading to displacement of people and government will have to spend more to rehabilitate these people.
Interlinking of rivers is definitely a good solution for the scarcity of water , but interlinking has to take place after a detailed study so that it does not cause any problem to the environment or aquatic life.
Ans. Interlinking of rivers is nothing but joining the rivers of the country by networks of canals and reservoirs. The Indian Government had established the National Water Development Agency to study the interlinking of rivers under the Ministry of Water Resources . Many states have proposed for interlinking of rivers due to scarcity of water in their states and hence the Central Government is working on a few projects.
River linking will have multidimensional benefits for the country. Some of them are
· The main occupation of rural India is agriculture and if monsoon fails in a year, then agricultural activities come to a standstill and this will aggravate rural poverty . Interlinking of rivers will be a practical solution for this problem , because the water can be stored or water can be transferred from water surplus area to water deficit region.
· Interlinking of rivers will also have commercial importance on a longer run. This can be used as inland waterways and which helps in faster movement of goods from one place to other.
· Interlinking creates a new occupation for people living in and around these canals and it can be the main areas of fishing in India.
However, river linking will also pose some environmental challenges like
· Interlinking of rivers will cause huge amount of distortion in the existing environment . Jn order to create canals and reservoirs, there will be mass deforestation . This will have impact on rains and in turn affect the whole ecological cycle of life.
· Due to interlinking of rivers, there will be decrease in the amount of fresh water entering seas and this will cause a serious threat to the marine life system and will be a major ecological disaster.
· Due to the creation of Canals and Reservoirs, huge amount of arealvhich is occupied by the people wil be submerged leading to displacement of people and government will have to spend more to rehabilitate these people.
Interlinking of rivers is definitely a good solution for the scarcity of water , but interlinking has to take place after a detailed study so that it does not cause any problem to the environment or aquatic life.