How many years will it take for a common man in India to realize that BJP & Congress are not different politically & rhetoric wise?

When it comes to economic policies and implementing them, BJP and congress are indeed different.

With the thought that ‘linking rivers is the work of linking the country’, ex-PM AB Vajapyee had conceptualized the ‘project to link Ken-Betwa rivers of two states first in the country’ after a detailed project report (DPR) was made during his time. A MoU for Ken-Betwa Linking Project was signed during Dr. Manmohan Singh era with the then CM of MP and UP on 25 August 2005 but the project remained on paper till PM Modi launched the foundation of the project on 25 December 2024. If the UPA government had given the right priority to this project, then this river link would have started earlier and would have been completed by now. It could have been a great relief for the drought prone Bundelkhand region.

The big vision behind this project was to increase self-reliance and stop migration by providing sufficient water for irrigation, drinking water and electricity generation as well as improving the water level of drought-affected Bundelkhand and opening new doors of investment and tourism for the all-round development of this region.

MP CM Mohan Yadav handed over two urns containing water from Betwa and Ken rivers, respectively, to Mr. Modi, who poured it over a model of the project to launch the river linking work. Speaking at the program at Khajuraho, PM Modi also said that in the 21st century, only the nations with adequate and well-managed water resources can advance. Congress and governance do not go together, Modi said, adding that past congress governments delayed projects for 35-40 years after laying their foundation stones.

Yashwant Sinha was a minister in AB Vajpayee government and he raised the issue of not implementing this Ken-Betwa river link project during UPA era. I remember I saw a TV program in 2011 (or 2012) where in a panel discussion with other experts, Yashwant Sinha raised the issue of lack of progress in this project. Also present in the panel discussion was UPA era Planning Commission chief Montek Singh Aluwalia who simple refused to talk on this topic.

The Ken-Betwa river linking will open new doors of prosperity and happiness in the Bundelkhand region. Nearly 44 lakh people in ten districts of Madhya Pradesh and 21 lakh in Uttar Pradesh will get drinking water under the project, which is estimated to cost ₹44,605 crore. Nearly 7.18 lakh agricultural families in 2,000 villages will benefit from the project, which will also generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar energy, officials said.

UP CM Mulayam Singh Yadav and MP CM Babulal Gaur submitting the signed Ken-Betwa river link MoU to the PM Dr. Manmohan Singh on 25 August 2005

River linking plan is not new. It was planned in British era by engineer Arthur Cotton who proposed the plan to interlink major Indian rivers for cheaper water bases transport for import and export of goods. Congress era also made grand plans with extensive drawings in 1980 which also remain on paper. This is the way Indian administration system (read IAS) and political system (read congress) works sitting at air-conditioned rooms. They shy away from actual implementation of mega projects with the excuse of fund shortage.

Union water resources minister Nitin Gadkari on 16 March 2018 while addressing the inaugural session of a two-day ‘Nadi Mahotsav’ at Bandrabhan said it was unfortunate that some states were fighting over river water distribution while nobody is concerned about river water going to Pakistan. India shares 6 rivers with Pakistan. Water from three rivers is flowing into Pakistan. But neither does any newspaper write on it, nor does any MLA demand to stop it. This is Nehruvian model of development where water is given to the ‘enemy country’. In this event spiritual guru Jaggi Vasudev said inter-linking of rivers in the country should be done scientifically and not for political and emotional reasons. Indian rivers are not like European or north American rivers. The average rainfall in Europe is around 225 days in a year and they have at least 10-15 inches of snow that sits there for two to three months. India's average rainfall is just 40 to 45 days and this is a tropical land which is thirsty and drinks up a lot of water.

Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari urged the Odisha government to settle the Mahanadi water sharing dispute with Chhattisgarh through dialogue, saying records show that moving a tribunal only delays a solution. Going to tribunal is congress party’s way of not solving issues and to put burning issues under carpet to be solved by future generations.

The Mahanadi rises in a pool in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district, and travels 851 km to fall into the Bay of Bengal in Odisha’s Puri. The river basin, spread largely over Chhattisgarh and Odisha and partly over MP, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, drains an area of 141589 sq km. After attaining statehood in 2000, Chhattisgarh started construction of six barrages on the Mahanadi. Until then, according to a decision taken in 1983, Odisha and undivided Madhya Pradesh had agreed to resolve water disputes through a Joint Control Board. Objecting to Chhattisgarh’s barrages, Odisha filed a suit in the Supreme Court (SC) under Article 131 of the Constitution in 2016, demanding a tribunal be set up under the Inter-State Water Disputes Act. In March 2018, the Centre announced a three-member Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT), following an SC order.

Odisha’s BJD led by Naveen Patnaik alleged Chhattisgarh has closed most gates of the Kalma barrage, cutting water flow into Odisha.

BJD workers stand in the water of the Mahanadi to protest the visit to Odisha of Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh

53% of Mahanadi waters in Odisha drains into the sea for failing to construct irrigation projects by BJD government who ruled for decades

The bottom line is Indian politicians (read congress) are good at giving speeches, make plans, blame others but fail to implement something big unit PM Modi came.

P.S. -This post is neither spam nor plagiarised material and follows Quora policy

Picture source: Google / Respective rightful owner

Indian rivers interlinking project - Wikipedia

Project to interlink rivers in India Indian rivers interlinking project Rivers Inter-Link, Himalayan and Peninsular Components Type of project Interbasin transfer Country India Status In study Map of India based on survey of rivers of India . The Indian rivers interlinking project is a proposed large-scale civil engineering project that aims to effectively manage water resources in India by linking rivers using a network of reservoirs and canals to enhance irrigation and groundwater recharge and reduce persistent floods in some parts and water shortages in other parts of the country. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] India accounts for 18% of global population and about 4% of the world's water resources . One of the solutions to solve the country's water woes is to link its rivers and lakes. [ 3 ] The interlinking project has been split into three parts: a northern Himalayan rivers interlink component, a southern peninsular component, and starting in 2005, an intrastate river-linking component. [ 4 ] The project is being managed by India's National Water Development Agency, which is part of the Ministry of Jal Shakti . NWDA has studied and prepared reports on 14 interlink projects for the Himalayan component, 16 for the peninsular component, and 37 intrastate river-linking projects. [ 4 ] Average rainfall in India is about 4,000 billion cubic metres, but most of the country's rainfall falls over a 4-month period —June through September. Furthermore, rain across the large nation is not uniform, with the east and north getting most rainfall and the west and south getting less. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] India also sees years of excess monsoons and floods, followed by below-average or late monsoons accompanied by droughts. This geographical and time variance in availability of natural water versus year-round demand for irrigation, drinking, and industrial water creates a demand–supply gap that has been worsening with India's rising population. [ 6 ] Proponents of the river interlinking projects claim the answer to India's water problem is to conserve the abundant monsoon water bounty, store it in reservoirs, and deliver this water—using the planned project—to areas and over times when water becomes scarce. [ 5 ] Beyond water security , the project is also seen to offer potential benefits to transport infrastructure through navigation and hydro power as well as broadening income sources in rural areas through fish farming . Opponents are concerned about well-known environmental, ecological, and social displacement impacts as well as unknown risks associated with tinkering with nature. [ 2 ] Others are concerned that some projects may have international impacts. [ 7 ] Map of the major rivers, lakes and reservoirs in India. British colonial era [ edit ] A proposal regarding the interlinking of rivers in India has a long history. During the British colonial rule , for example, the 19th century engineer Arthur Cotton proposed the plan to interlink major Indian rivers in order to hasten impo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_rivers_interlinking_project

PM Modi lays foundation stone: What is the Ken-Betwa river linking project, environmental concerns around it

The Ken Betwa Link Project envisages transferring water from the Ken river to the Betwa river, both tributaries of the Yamuna. Here's why this was needed, who the project will help, and concerns about its impact on the Panna tiger reserve.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/pm-modi-foundation-ken-betwa-linking-project-9743602/