Gs 3 related

Ken-Betwa project

Category: Environment

Topic: Inter-linking of Rivers

Key Points:

National Board for Wildlife (NBWL)chaired by Union Environment Minister cleared the Ken-Betwa project, India’s first Inter-State river interlinking project. This would be the first time that a river project will be located within a tiger reserve. The Rs. 10,000-crore Ken-Betwa project will irrigatethe drought-prone Bundelkhand regionbut in the process will also submerge about 10% of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, feted as a model tiger-conservation reserve.

 

The main feature of the project is a 230-km long canal and a series of barrages and dams connecting the Ken and Betwa rivers that will irrigate 3.5 lakh hectares inMadhya Pradesh and 14,000 hectares ofUttar Pradesh, in Bundelkhand. The key projects are the Makodia and Dhaudhan dams, the latter expected to be 77 m high and responsible for submerging 5,803 hectares of tiger habitat in the Panna tiger reserve.

 

The project will bring water to one of India’s worst drought-affected regions and the National Board of Wildlife has also insisted on an integrated wildlife management plan.

 

Pros and Cons – The project report of Union water Ministry said Chhatarpur, Panna, Tikamgarh, Raisen, and Vidisha districts of Madhya Pradesh and Mahoba, Jhansi and Banda districts ofUttar Pradesh will benefited fromassured irrigation supply, domestic and industrial water supply and power. On the other hand, about 6,388 people in 10 villages will be affected due to the submergence by Daudhan reservoir and 13499 persons living in the 28 villages will be affected due to the submergence by Makodia reservoir and will have to be resettled. Seventeen lakh residents of nearby towns and villages in both States will benefit from improved drinking water and irrigation facilities

According to the NBWL, 6,221 hectares –4,141 of which is core forest and locatedinside the reserve will be inundated when, and if, the proposed reservoir were filled to the brim. A key point of contention between wildlife experts associated with the impact assessment and dam proponents in the water resources ministry was whether the height of the Daudhan dam could be reduced to limit the water overflow and contain its subsequent impact. There were also concerns that vulture and ghariyal habitatin the region would be affected. Here too, the committee noted, that only 3% of the vulture habitat would be affected. 

No new mining leases would be allowedin the delineated tiger dispersal routes and existing mining leases extended only if concretely justified and a proposed hydro-power project would now be located outside the reserve.

ADB approves $631 mn. loan for Coastal corridor

Category: Indian Economy

Topic: Infrastructure

Key Points:

Multilateral funding agency – Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $631 million for buildingIndia’s first coastal industrial corridorbetween Visakhapatnam and Chennai.The fund will help develop the first key 800-km section of the planned 2,500-km East Coast Economic Corridor expected to spur development on India’s eastern coast and enable seamless trade links with other parts of South and Southeast Asia.

ADB’s loans and grants comprise a $500 million two-tranche facility to build key infrastructure and a $125 million two-tranche loan to help in industrial policies and business promotion. The total cost of the project is $846 million and work on it is expected to be over by 2031. Andhra Pradesh government will fund the remaining $215 million.

The Fund will help develop the first 800-km section of planned East Coast Economic Corridor.

By combining state-of-the-art industrial clusters, efficient transport, and reliable water and power supplies with a skilled workforce and good business policies, it is expected theVisakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor to become a favored investment destination. By 2025,annual industrial output along thecorridor will increase fourfold to $64 billion from about $16 billion in 2015 if investment opportunities are maximized over the coming 10 years.Note – The Centre is keen to encourage the manufacturing sector to create jobs for a labor force that is growing by about 12 million each yea
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