Title: Pushed through: On mega projects
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging off work on the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project signalled that the national government is unbothered by the wide-ranging opposition to it. At a budgeted cost of ₹44,605 crore, the project will draw supposedly “excess” water away from the Ken river basin towards the Betwa river basin and thereon to farmland and human settlements. When the Union Cabinet approved the project in 2021, the National Green Tribunal was still deliberating a challenge to its green clearance. This was typical of the state’s tendency to pardon businesses found in violation of environmental laws after they had made considerable investments. The government itself has ignored critical comments from experts, including members of an empowered committee appointed by the Supreme Court, and bypassed due process. The law has strict terms for allowing hydroelectric power projects in ecologically sensitive areas — the Daudhan Dam will be erected inside the Panna Tiger Reserve — but there is little evidence of such scrutiny. Work on the dam will destroy lakhs of trees and destabilise fragile ecosystems. The government has also refused to release hydrological data of the basins claiming they are sensitive by virtue of being subsets of the international Ganga basin.
That a river interlink will water fields and quench thirst is irrefutable, but for how long? Various studies have asserted that the Ken and the Betwa basins suffer floods and droughts together, that the subcontinent’s rainfall and sedimentation patterns stand to be altered, and that the Betwa basin can be replenished more affordably by maintaining environmental flows and bolstering natural storage. The government’s principal claim is that the Ken and the Betwa basins are respectively water-surplus and water-deficient. This is disingenuous: the Betwa basin is water-deficient strictly because it hosts several lakh hectares of irrigated cropland. Should the demand in the Ken basin increase, both areas will suffer. Experts have instead suggested that the project is a ploy to pacify the electorate in Bundelkhand — as its approval months ahead of State polls in Uttar Pradesh also suggested — and/or to improve water supply to reservoirs in the lower Betwa thanks to other upstream blockades. The project seems more the product of political expediency and self-image than current ecological sense. The more resources the government sinks into it, the more unlikely changing or reversing course will become in the face of adverse developments. When they come to pass, the responsibility and costs of mitigating the adverse consequences of this and other projects, including the recently launched Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal link, will fall to the people.
Meaning of the word:
| Word | Meaning | Synonyms | Antonyms |
| Supposedly | The word “supposedly” is used to indicate something that is claimed to be true or believed by some people, but there may be doubts or it hasn’t been verified. | Allegedly Apparently Presumably Ostensibly | Actually Certainly Definitely Truly |
| Virtue | The word “virtue” refers to a quality or trait that is considered morally good or desirable. | Goodness Morality Righteousness Integrity | Vice Immorality Sin Wickedness |
| Replenished | The word “replenished” means refilled, restored, or made complete again after being depleted or used up. It is often used to describe restocking supplies, restoring energy, or renewing something to its original state. | Restored Refreshed Refueled Refilled | Depleted Drained Exhausted Reduced |
| Mitigating | The word “mitigating” refers to the act of making something less severe, harmful, or intense. It is often used in contexts where negative effects or harsh conditions are reduced or alleviated. | Alleviating Easing Reducing Lessening | Aggravating Exacerbating Intensifying Worsening |
