THE flagship river-link irrigation project, which will provide a lifeline to 23 districts in Rajasthan, envisages the submergence of 37 sq km in the Ranthambhore tiger reserve effectively cutting it into two sections. The submergence will be caused by the largest dam proposed under the Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal-Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (PKC-ERCP), which is part of the ambitious Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) program.
Ranthambore At Risk | Rajasthan’s River-Link Project
Why In News
- THE flagship river-link irrigation project, which will provide a lifeline to 23 districts in Rajasthan, envisages the submergence of 37 sq km in the Ranthambhore tiger reserve effectively cutting it into two sections.
PKC-ERCP Project
- The submergence will be caused by the largest dam proposed under the Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal-Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (PKC-ERCP), which is part of the ambitious Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) program. The canal project is expected to channel surplus water of the Chambal river basin for irrigation, drinking and industrial use to 23 districts of Rajasthan, benefitting 3.45 crore people.
- Of the PKC-ERCP’s total submergence area of 408.86 sq km in Rajasthan, 227 sq km will go under the reservoir of a proposed 39-m-high and 1.6-km-long dam across Banas river, a tributary of Chambal, near village Doongri, about 30 km from Sawai Madhopur town.
- Of this, project details show, 37.03 sq km belong to Ranthambhore national park (392 sq km) and Keladevi wildlife sanctuary (674 sq km), both part of the Ranthambhore tiger reserve (1,113 sq km), currently home to 57 tigers. The submergence on both sides of the proposed dam will constrict the north-south animal dispersal route between the two halves of the reserve.
- In 2017, Rajasthan under the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje conceived the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP). However, the project was not acceptable to Madhya Pradesh, which also shares the Chambal river basin, due to the high volume of water extraction planned by Rajasthan. The two states signed an MoU with the Centre for the modified project last January.
- While the ERCP segment has already been planned by Rajasthan, the project is now undergoing capacity enhancement due to the linking of Parbati, Kalisindh and Chambal (PKC) rivers, necessitating a modified DPR.
- Phase One of the PKC-ERCP involves the construction of the Doongri dam and five barrages — Ramgarh, Mahalpur, Navnera, Mej, and Rathod on the river Kul, Parbati, Kalisindh, and Banas, respectively — a water conductor system from Ramgarh barrage to Doongri dam and the renovation of Isarda dam.
- In Madhya Pradesh, the Kumbhraj dam on Parvati and the SMRS dam on Kuno are proposed. The deadline for this phase is 2028.
- Incidentally, Ranthambhore is the third tiger reserve facing loss of land to upcoming reservoirs.
- The North Koel Reservoir Project will submerge 10.07 sq km of Palamu tiger reserve in Jharkhand; the Ken-Betwa river link project is expected to drown 41.41 sq km of Panna tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
Chambal River
- Chambal River originates at the Singar Chouri peak in the northern slopes of the Vindhya mountains (Indore, Madhya Pradesh). From there, it flows in the North direction in Madhya Pradesh for a length of about 346 km and then follows a north-easterly direction for a length of 225 km through Rajasthan.
- It enters Uttar Pradesh and flows for about 32 km before joining the Yamuna River in Etawah District. It is a rainfed river and its basin is bounded by the Vindhyan mountain ranges and the Aravallis. The Chambal and its tributaries drain the Malwa region of northwestern Madhya Pradesh.
- Tributaries: Banas, Kali Sindh, Sipra, Parbati, etc.
- Main Power Projects/ Dam: Gandhi Sagar Dam, Rana Pratap Sagar Dam, Jawahar Sagar Dam, and Kota Barrage.
- The National Chambal Sanctuary is located along river Chambal on the tri-junction of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
- It is known for critically endangered gharial, the red-crowned roof turtle, and the endangered Ganges river dolphin.
