Ken-Betwa Project:
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has written to Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar, asking him not to implement the Ken-Betwa river linking project.
- It is because the Panna Tiger reserve will be damaged by the river linking project.
- The state government’s open estimate is that around 40 percent of the area of the tiger reserve will be irretrievably damaged.
- Union Jal shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat signed a tripartite agreement with the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on the occasion of World Water Day to start the work on India’s first major river interlinking project that will connect the Ken and the Betwa Rivers.
- The Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed almost 18 years after the idea of the project was conceived owing to disagreement between the two states over sharing of water.
About Ken- Betwa project:
- The project aims to transfer surplus water from the Ken river in MP to Betwa in UP to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region spread across the districts of two states mainly Jhansi, Banda, Lalitpur, and Mahoba districts of UP and Tikamgarh, Panna, and Chhatarpur districts of MP.
- Ken and Betwa rivers originate in MP and are the tributaries of Yamuna.
- Ken meets with Yamuna in the Banda district of UP and with Betwa in the Hamirpur district of UP.
- Rajghat, Paricha and Matatila dams are over the Betwa river.
- Ken River passes through Panna tiger reserve
