River Linking is project linking two or more rivers by creating a network of manually created canals, and providing land areas that otherwise does not have river water access and reducing the flow of water to sea using this means. It is based on the assumptions that surplus water in some rivers can be diverted to deficit rivers by creating a network of canals to interconnect the rivers.
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By linking of rivers vast amount of land areas which does not have otherwise irrigated and unusable for agriculture become fertile.[1]
During heavy rainy seasons some areas can experience heavy floods while other areas might be experiencing drought like situations. With network of rivers this problem can be greatly avoided by channeling excess water to areas that are not experiencing a flood or are dry. This works similar to canal system in Netherlands to channel excess water from sea.[1]
With new canals built, feasibility of new DAMS to generate hydroelectric power becomes a possibility.
Newly created network of canals opens up new routes and ways and routes of water navigation, which is generally more efficient and cheaper compared to road transport.
The National River Linking Project (NRLP) is designed to ease water shortages in western and southern India while mitigating the impacts of recurrent floods in the eastern parts of the Ganga basin. The NRLP, if and when implemented, will be one of the biggest interbasin water transfer projects in the world.[1]
Major concern being the argument that rivers change their course in 70–100 years and once they are linked, future change of course can create huge practical problems for the project.[1]
A number of leading environmentalists are of the opinion that the project could be an ecological disaster. There would be a decrease in downstream flows resulting in reduction of fresh water inflows into the seas seriously jeopardizing aquatic life.[1]
Creation of canals would need large areas of land resulting large scale deforestation in certain area.[1]
Possibility of new dams comes with the threat of large new otherwise habitable or reserved land getting submerged under water.[1]
As large strips of land might have to converted to canals, a considerable population living in this areas must need to be rehabilitated to new areas.