India's economy is mainly dependent on agriculture. Three-fourths of India's economy is dependent on agriculture. 67% of land is covered under agriculture. With more land covered under agriculture and based on the facts and figures of productivity of the food grains required, the question that arises is "will India's water bodies fill up,especially in the southern India where water bodies are rain-fed ?"
The ultimate irrigation potential of the country has been assessed at 140 million hectares - 76 million hectares from surface water and 64 million hectares from ground water. The fact that has bearing on both agricultural productivity and overall food grain production is that the utilization rate of 89.4% till the end of 1999-2000. However, agriculture has been dealt a blow because of declining public investment in agriculture in the recent past and the lack of any initiative to increase irrigated area.
Though India is endowed with land and water resources, shortage is beginning to be felt. Our large water resources are exhausting rapidly too. But with a rapidly growing population, as the figures above reveal and increased urbanization and industrialization the shortage of water has now begun to be felt across the country and is, in some cases, rather critical.
The ILR Programme is aimed at linking different surplus rivers with water-deficient rivers so that the excess water from the surplus region is tapped. The benefits are increased irrigation intensity, water availability for drinking and industrial purposes and tackling drought and floods. Annual food grain production is estimated at 200 million tonnes and an increasing population has pushed the need for more production. The ILR programme has been planned at the intra- and inter-basin levels and expected to provide additional irrigation in about 35 million hectares and boost power generation to 30,000 MW. The canals built would also boost water-ways for navigation,reducing the pressure on road/rail transport and be cost-effective. According to an estimate by WHO, economic losses due to floods and droughts during 1990-2001 stood at $4,604 million. This ILR programme has been estimated to help increase access to safe drinking water which is at present 92% in urban and 86% in rural of the population have access to safe water supply.
The major objections for ILR programme are ecological constraints, environment problems due to large changes in the river systems, funding, corruption,bid to companies etc. With the identification of the needs of water-scarce areas and finding area-specific answers, the project starts by looking at map of India and then deciding that rivers should be linked This adds nearly 30 projects involving 80 dams and is a major ecological constraint. The second major objection is rehabilitation of people. It is very difficult and many will object rehabilitation since they get habituated with the place living from many years. The ILR Programme is expected require nearly 5,60,000 crores within four years and the political constraints will be the main constraint in India. Also, environmental experts are worried about the soil health and river health which may show adverse effect on the Earth.
The ultimate irrigation potential of the country has been assessed at 140 million hectares - 76 million hectares from surface water and 64 million hectares from ground water. The fact that has bearing on both agricultural productivity and overall food grain production is that the utilization rate of 89.4% till the end of 1999-2000. However, agriculture has been dealt a blow because of declining public investment in agriculture in the recent past and the lack of any initiative to increase irrigated area.
Though India is endowed with land and water resources, shortage is beginning to be felt. Our large water resources are exhausting rapidly too. But with a rapidly growing population, as the figures above reveal and increased urbanization and industrialization the shortage of water has now begun to be felt across the country and is, in some cases, rather critical.
The ILR Programme is aimed at linking different surplus rivers with water-deficient rivers so that the excess water from the surplus region is tapped. The benefits are increased irrigation intensity, water availability for drinking and industrial purposes and tackling drought and floods. Annual food grain production is estimated at 200 million tonnes and an increasing population has pushed the need for more production. The ILR programme has been planned at the intra- and inter-basin levels and expected to provide additional irrigation in about 35 million hectares and boost power generation to 30,000 MW. The canals built would also boost water-ways for navigation,reducing the pressure on road/rail transport and be cost-effective. According to an estimate by WHO, economic losses due to floods and droughts during 1990-2001 stood at $4,604 million. This ILR programme has been estimated to help increase access to safe drinking water which is at present 92% in urban and 86% in rural of the population have access to safe water supply.
The major objections for ILR programme are ecological constraints, environment problems due to large changes in the river systems, funding, corruption,bid to companies etc. With the identification of the needs of water-scarce areas and finding area-specific answers, the project starts by looking at map of India and then deciding that rivers should be linked This adds nearly 30 projects involving 80 dams and is a major ecological constraint. The second major objection is rehabilitation of people. It is very difficult and many will object rehabilitation since they get habituated with the place living from many years. The ILR Programme is expected require nearly 5,60,000 crores within four years and the political constraints will be the main constraint in India. Also, environmental experts are worried about the soil health and river health which may show adverse effect on the Earth.
