Hercules and the Hydra in Ken-Betwa Link

                                           Hercules and the Hydra in Ken-Betwa Link

The image below is a newspaper report (from The Hindu of December 29, 2024) that talks about one project out of many river-linking projects in India, both in the Gangetic plains an in the Deccan area. As a sample, the project discussed conveniently falls on the dividing line between the two geographical features!

I was working in a civil engineering consultancy company and my boss fancied himself an expert on the subject of river water transfer. I could not fault him for this, as I have not seen any penthouse boss who does not become a multi-faceted expert, and vanity does the rest. So, he gathered a bunch of egomaniacs like him (there were indeed a couple–not more–of down to earth academics) and compiled a document (I am ashamed to say that I acquiesced in this task as I had to put food on the table) which, as far as I know did not go anywhere.

I did go with my boss to almost all these jamborees (I like the fried cashew nuts on the table spread) and took notes (while shaking the brain matter inside my skill vigorously). At least once I was subbing for my boss; yes, it made me feel important. Why would I not?

The cost of all the mooted projects under this rubric was Rs. 560,000 crore (approx. USD 1 trillion, per the exchange rate then). My boss was an acolyte of the then Prime Minister Hon’ble Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had taken this as his pet infrastructure project. Acolyte or not, who would not want to be on the right side of a mouth-watering revenue stream!

Yet I kept my counsel.

Even then, the Ken-Betwa link was prioritized.  The project required a number of aqueducts, water-lifting points, canal lining and so on. All these required technical and supervisory requirements of civil engineers.

This is the same project on which now the call for open-sesame sounds. And, the environmentalists and also wild-life conservationists have taken up arms against. Nothing has changed since the time of Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee who also faced similar two pronged demands and attacks.

The government department has said that the nay-sayers cannot do anything but protest, never mind that the alignment goes through a national park and a tiger reserve. Let the tiger be our national animal, it will take care of itself as Bharat cannot ever be vanquished.

The same concerns and the same responses, lies or truths, no one ever needs to know! Look at what China has done in this regard. There a transfer from the Yangtze to the yellow River (south to north) was mooted by Mao Zedong mooted it 1952 and I have no idea whether the project stands completed and benefits computed (there cannot ever be any losses, you understand). We, of course, would rather teach the Chinese than learn anything from them!

Now our Prime Minster Hon’ble Narendar Modi thinks it is time to lay a foundation stone, I am sure one in a slew of such edifices he would lay in however long a tenure he enjoys. Good for him, and perhaps for the dry area along the corridor and for the whole region. Tigers, as said earlier, belong to a sturdy species and will take care of themselves, The construction would lay barren a lush forest area. No problem. We would count the trees to be felled and plant enough saplings elsewhere that these species are not native to. Par for our environmental concerns.

Finances? Oh, never feel shy of going with a begging bowl to IBRD (World Bank), if Ambani, Adani, Noel Tata and others are not able to fork up Rs. 44,605 crores (Rs. 0.44605 x 10¹², or at today’s exchange rate of 1 USD = 85.50 INR, USD 5.2170 billion). We are an international player now and this piddly sum should not bother anyone.

Let us start digging the canal!

And, we hope too that the hydra is not hiding in there! This Hydra myth is quite parallel to Lod Krishna's Kalingam Nardhanam. Scenarios change but somethings remain constant.

Hurray!

Raghuram Ekambaram