The Central Government Task Force on interlinking of rivers will seek to build consensus among States in making the dream project successful.
Sriram Vedire, a member of the 10-member Task Force created by the Centre recently, said a meeting would be held on Wednesday to take the mission forward.
The Task Force headed by BN Navalawala has been mandated to speed up the process of interlinking and bring consensus among the States on the mega project.
Among various tasks entrusted to the team are to come up with time and implementation schedules, address environmental aspects and funding mechanisms for relief and rehabilitation. The focus would be on intra-basin and inter-State links, he said.
The Task Force had identified 14 links in the Himalayan region and 16 links in the Peninsula which could make use of surplus water that goes untapped into the seas. The project proposes to bring about 10 crore acres under cultivation, while generating about 34,000 mw of hydel power.
Referring to the task force head by Suresh Prabhu and its findings in 2002-2004, it was estimated that such a project would require about ₹4.5 lakh crore. This amount would have to be revised, and see if the figure could be cut down. After the Modi Government assumed office in 2014, a Supreme Court monitored committee, consisting of 20 chief ministers and 20 irrigation ministers, was formed. This committee met three times and reports about progress of projects to the Court. Sriram said that it was proposed to form special purpose vehicles to facilitate relief and rehabilitation for people displaced due to such river linkage. Referring to the work done so far and progress in interlinking, Sriram said that feasibility reports are ready for 16 projects and detailed project reports are ready for six projects. Work on three river links have begun.