Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton would have been happy. The British irrigation engineer had mooted the idea of interlinking rivers across India in 1858. Now more than 150 years later, that idea is taking shape.

On September 22, the State Wildlife Board of Madhya Pradesh, gave the thumbs-up to the project that will link the Ken and the Betwa rivers in the state, the first of India’s interlinking of rivers (ILR) programme. Now the project awaits a formal wave of hand by Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Few expect any delay there. After all, Javadekar’s boss, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wants the project. Within a year, the first spades and shovels will hit the ground..................Read more

Source: Business Line