Parliament Question: Status of Inter-linking of River Basins related to Krishna River

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3419 ANSWERED ON 12.03.2026 STATUS OF INTER-LINKING OF RIVER BASINS RELATED TO KRISHNA RIVER 3419. Dr. K SUDHAKAR: Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state: (a) the current status of the proposed inter-linking of river basins related to the Krishna river for providing water to Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts of Karnataka; (b) whether the Government has taken any concrete steps or approved any projects to ensure transfer or sharing of water under river-linking initiatives and if so, the details thereof; and (c) the expected time-frame for completion of such inter-linking or related works to provide irrigation and drinking water benefits to Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY) (a) to (c) The Government of India has formulated the National Perspective Plan (NPP) for interlinking of rivers, under which 30 Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) projects—comprising 16 Peninsular and 14 Himalayan links—have been identified to address water scarcity and augment irrigation and other water-related benefits across the country. The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) is the nodal agency entrusted with carrying out studies and preparing project reports for these ILR links. NWDA has completed Pre-Feasibility Reports (PFRs) for all 30 links, Feasibility Reports (FRs) for 26 links, and Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for 11 links. The status of these 30 link projects under the NPP is enclosed at Annexure. Several of the identified links involve the Krishna basin, including the Krishna (Almatti)–Pennar link, Krishna (Srisailam)–Pennar link, and others. However, none of these links is designed to transfer water to Kolar or Chikkaballapur districts of Karnataka. Since no ILR project under the NPP is presently envisaged for providing Krishna river water to Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts, no time-frame can be indicated for completion of such works for these districts. *** 1ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3419 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 12.03.2026 REGARDING “STATUS OF INTER- LINKING OF RIVER BASINS RELATED TO KRISHNA RIVER”. Details and current status of ILR projects under the NPP Peninsular Component Sl. Name States benefited Status No 1 Mahanadi (Manibhadra) - Godavari Andhra Pradesh (AP) FR completed (Dowlaiswaram) link and Odisha Alternate Mahanadi (Barmul)- AP and Odisha FR completed Rushikulya–Godavari Dowlaiswaram) link 2 Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna AP, Karnataka, FR Completed (Vijayawada) link @ Maharashtra and Telangana 3 a.) Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna Telangana FR completed (Nagarjunasagar) link b.) Alternate Godavari (Inchampalli) - DPR completed Telangana Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link * 4 Godavari (Inchampalli/ SSMPP) - Krishna Telangana and AP DPR completed (Pulichintala) link 5 a.) Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar AP FR completed (Somasila ) link b.)Alternate Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - DPR completed AP Pennar (Somasila ) link * 6 Krishna (Srisailam) – Pennar link AP DPR Completed 7 Krishna (Almatti) – Pennar link Karnataka &AP DPR completed 8 a.) Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand AP, Tamil Nadu and FR completed Anicut) link Puducherry b.) Alternate Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery AP, Tamil Nadu and (Grand Anicut) link * Puducherry DPR completed 9 Cauvery (Kattalai) - Vaigai -Gundar link Tamil Nadu DPR completed 10 Parbati –Kalisindh - Chambal link Madhya Pradesh FR completed (MP) and Rajasthan b) Modified Parbati – Kalisindh-Chambal MP and Rajasthan MoA for implementation link has been signed by both the States 11 Damanganga - Pinjal link Maharashtra (only DPR completed and water supply to dropped from status of Mumbai) “priority links” 12 Par-Tapi-Narmada link Gujarat and DPR completed and Maharashtra dropped from status of “priority links” 13 Ken-Betwa link Uttar Pradesh (UP) DPR completed and project and MP is under implementation 14 Pamba - Achankovil - Vaippar link Tamil Nadu and FR completed Kerala 15 Bedti - Varda link @@ Karnataka DPR completed 16 Netravati – Hemavati link*** Karnataka PFR completed 2* Due to pending consensus on Manibhadra and Inchampalli dams, Phase-I of Project to divert unutilized waters of Godavari river, Study was carried out and DPR of Godavari (Inchampalli) – Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila) – Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link projects (combined) called as Godavari-Cauvery link was completed. The report has further been updated terminating the link canal at Manimukhtanadi, a Tributary of Vellar river flowing adjacent to Cauvery basin. @@ Bedti – Varda Link - DPR was prepared directly after preparation of its PFR, no FR was prepared. @ Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) Link- the project has been taken up by Govt. of Andhra Pradesh and is under execution by Polavaram Project Authority. *** Netravati – Hemavati link: Further studies not taken up after PFR preparation since after implementation of Yettinahole project by Govt. of Karnataka, no surplus water is available in Netravati basin for diversion through this link. Himalayan Component Sl. Name States / Countries Status No benefited 1. Kosi-Mechi link** Bihar and Nepal PFR completed 2. Kosi-Ghaghra link Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (UP) FR completed and Nepal 3. Gandak - Ganga link UP and Nepal FR completed 4. Ghaghra - Yamuna link UP and Nepal FR completed 5. Sarda - Yamuna link UP and Uttarakhand FR completed 6. Yamuna-Rajasthan link Haryana and Rajasthan FR completed 7. Rajasthan-Sabarmati link Rajasthan and Gujarat FR completed 8. Chunar - Sone Barrage link Bihar and UP FR completed 9. Sone Dam - Southern Tributaries of Ganga Bihar and Jharkhand Draft FR link completed 10. Manas-Sankosh-Tista-Ganga (M-S-T-G) Assam, West Bengal and FR completed link Bihar 11. Jogighopa-Tista-Farakka link (Alternative to Assam, WB and Bihar PFR completed M-S-T-G) (The proposal has been dropped) 12. Farakka-Sundarbans link WB FR completed 13. Ganga (Farakka) - Damodar-Subarnarekha WB, Odisha and Jharkhand FR completed link 14. Subarnarekha-Mahanadi link WB and Odisha FR completed **Kosi-Mechi Inter State link - PFR prepared and proposal was dropped due to international issues, subsequently, on request of Govt. of Bihar, NWDA has taken up Kosi-Mechi Intra State link project. ***** 3